"The software is an artifact of the community."

Paul Everitt said this to me over a pitcher of beer. It was the first night of Plone Conference 2006, which I'd spent the past four months organizing. Three hundred and fifty Plone users and developers from around the world had made their way to my hometown, Seattle, and I was drunk with the delirium of what was already a wildly successful conference. The nearly-empty pitcher of Hammerhead Ale on the bar probably wasn't hurting my mood either.

"The software is an artifact of the community."

It was like a revelation from on high. Well, I'm pretty sure Paul's no deity, but he's definitely one of the high priests of Plone. He's been one of the most effective leaders and ambassadors in the Plone and Zope communities. He'd certainly helped me as I struggled through the anxiety of pulling together my first-ever major event for a community in which I was still very much a "newbie."

Plone-the-software is an artifact of Plone-the-community. I rolled the concept over in my head. It felt right, but what did it really mean? You can't really understand the code without understanding the community of people that have produced it.  The software encodes the values of the community. It reflects the things we care about (and the things we don't!). It is the product of relationships, negotiations and efforts among specific human beings. If the community is healthy and happy, the software will be good. If you want to help make the software better, spend time and energy making the community stronger.