The words of the moment. But an old idea, something some people have been practising all their lives, a concept that is as old as thought. Giving is indeed better than receiving. And the best “gifts” in the Big Society concept is those that just keep on giving. The volunteers that pick up the litter on the local fields are great as are is outcome of having litter-free green areas; but when they stop doing it, whether through age, illness or they move away, the fields stop being litter-free.
Open source project contributions on the other hand just keep on giving: we add a fix, everyone benefits from the fix; you add an enhancement, everyone gets the enhancement; they add some documentation, everyone gets to use the documentation. Ain’t that great? So, all you councils, voluntary organisations, government departments and agencies, join in…