From my Sevillan watchtower I observe, undaunted, the slow becoming of the WordPress ecosystem in general and the WordPress Spain community in particular. Where do we come from? of B2/Cafeblog. Where are we going? It's clear, The reinvention of the printing press. Who are we? Here's the big question. Getting the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything else, had its crumb. But this is another matter of flour.
The Souk
The WordPress Community It's a souk at ten in the morning. There are thousands of products: fabrics, spices, food, leather goods, handicrafts, etc. There are also thousands of shops, and thousands of merchants. and customers. But the latter do not know what the matter is. They don't even have to. They are only interested in good quality at a good price. Quality? Good price? Two factors that are hardly measurable, but to which we usually provide a series of features that allow us to see the photo from the right prism.
What happens is that, as in all professional circles, there are always professionals and "professionals". The ones know who the others are, and the others know who the ones are. But customers don't know them. Guests are on tour because they have signed up for an organized excursion to Marrakech and do not know that Abdul has the best threads and embroideries, and that Hammed manufactures his chain dresses in a textile plant outside. Both Abdul and Hammed have their niche market. And that's fine, each one takes his dirhams home every afternoon, and everyone's so happy.
Now, there's the case of Icham. Icham has recently arrived in the city, and has seen that the fashion market is booming. And since Icham is not a fool, he has set up his own business. He has also downloaded an ebook on traditional Moroccan couture, and has borrowed from his aunt a fourth-hand singer who has been in the family for decades. It turns out that the government has decreed that the cloths be free for everyone. Cheap, cheap, hoiga. and the mess.
Quality/Price
One morning, a traveler (crawls Calliope) travels through the souk with the same face as Heidi in Maienfeld. Look for a nice dress to wear this summer when strolling along the beaches of El Palmar.
The young woman enters the souk and the first thing she finds is a great sign that reads «Bazar Icham: Experts in Moroccan fashion. Your custom caftan for only five thousand dirhams. ' What a Oferton, think. I'll have to look for this Icham. Calliope goes on and walks through the alleys looking for his goal. As he passed by the Hammed shop, he sees that there are some dresses that call his attention and he goes in to ask. "These dresses are generic design," she says. Hammed explains that although they are good dresses and he always puts a personal touch, they all come out of a factory outside. We have four or five different models. Yes, we can change almost everything: the colors, the embroidery, the length of the skirt, that is your choice». The price, ten thousand dirhams. They are so cheap because the fabrics are free, we are provided by the Government. It's not a bad deal, thinks Calliope. "Thank you, I'll keep looking."
A little further on, our protagonist passes by Abdul's shop, and asks for a custom Takchita , with golden trimmings, fringes on sleeves, flower embroideries, short sleeves, long skirt and Ziritione. Abdul spends some time analyzing the specific needs of his client and mentally designing the new dress. Make a sketch with crayons to teach you while calculating the time it would take to run the proposed design. The client is delighted, but the price Abdul demands has gone from mother. You can't afford it. Calliope tries to haggle (he's been told it works, that prices are swollen), but Abdul is deeply indignant to see his professionalism questioned with phrases like "but if these fabrics are free, that I have said Hammed, that of that position", "because that I Leave it in half... ' Abdul denies his head and politely recommends that he look elsewhere. Calliope is disappointed and confused, does not understand how a simple dress, which is made with free fabrics, can cost fifty thousand dirhams.
When you turn the first corner (and on your right), you will find the Icham shop. Lights, music, mirrors, Brilli-brilli everywhere. And again, the poster: «Moroccan Fashion Experts: your custom caftan for only five thousand dirhams». MMM, something doesn't add up. It doesn't make any sense that Abdul would want to charge ten times more for the same. I'm sure he was ripping me off. Calliope enters the store and asks for her tailored dress. "No problem," replies Icham. "Let me take your measurements and come in two hours." Wow. To measure, cheap and in two hours. It is so good to buy in this souk. I could keep telling everything that Calliope did that day in Marrakech, but what really interested us was a while later.
Playa del Palmar
The first week of July, Calliope and her friends plunder Blablacar and get off to Cadiz to start the season of selfies and dribbling. They arrive at the AirBnB they have hired and change to go to the beach. When they go out the door, Penelope says to Calliope: "Hey Cali, how cool that dress. What is it, from Marrakech? ' "Yes, I bought it super cheap, and look what molón." "Well, it's not bad, but my cousin has one that's just the same." "Really? Well, the guy did it to me... Penelope tells Calliope that in Marrakech there are some merchants of dresses that say make them custom and personalized when in fact they are not. Calliope, angry, answered that yes, that one of the vendors told him that they were manufactured in series, but that she had bought it to measure. So Penelope asks for the price. Shocked after the answer, asks Calliope if she really sees feasible that for half of what it costs a dress manufactured in series (that of hammed) she could have one made to measure. Calliope, confused, arrives to the beach.
The beach is crowded, as it could not be otherwise, youth and young like her , anxious to brown your skin and wet your skin too. And Calliope realizes, horrified, that her dress has become viral. Most girls wear a similar dress. It's not the same, it's true. They change colors, some shapes, maybe some embroidery... But they look the same. And the problem is not that they seem equal, the problem is that what Calliope bought was a custom made dress, that there put it well clearly on the poster.
A couple of days later, the dress stopped being what it was. The seams were not at all sturdy and started to get rid of. The colors lost their luster, and the embroideries of frayed mercilessly. Bad business, thought Calliope, as he was heading to the beach. Once there, he realized that the other girls who wore dresses similar to his were in the same situation, although some had seemed to not care that his dress fell apart and others were not happy. There are people pa'tó.
Return to the Souk (epilogue)
Months later, Calliope returned to Marrakech. On this occasion it was much clearer what I should look for, and above all, why I should. He passed by in front of Abdul's shop (he could not afford his dresses) and went straight to the Hammed, asking him for a dress of generic design, but treated with affection and with respect. After completing his purchase, Calliope asked Hammed his opinion on Icham, the swindler he met months ago. Hammed, with total naturalness, replied: «It is good for me that there are people like Icham, because in the end customers realize that their dresses are worth nothing. Then they come to me to ask me to fix them, or make them a new one, and that's good for me. Yes, they're a little more expensive, but they're better. "
In the WordPress community, much has been talked about lately De GPLs, lock-ins, of customized developments, whistles and flutes. One and others are fiercely criticized, developers and divilopers. It makes blood with those who manufacture webs for five hundred euros and those who for less than four thousand do not lift the cover of the laptop. What you don't hear about is ethics, meritocracy and self-effort. It is not a dish of good taste that, after several years of good work, effort, training and responsibility, tachen to one of uploaded . Nor should it be nice to bump into Divos to look over your shoulder because you've just started on this. Taking advantage of the community's push to sell your book without contributing anything in return is a ruin. Taking advantage of the work of others to sell it as their own is not only a ruin, it is despicable. But none of this should happen. In the end, they pay just for sinners and the repercussion is always the same: the detriment of our profession, the one that many love.
It would not hurt to do pineapple, and that the community is not only a place to eat and drink well when there is Meetups or WordCamps, but a real community that detects and exposes the black sheep, the Hichams, those who dwarf and delegitimize our work and Our salaries. Everyone's. Any professional who is considered an expert in something, By definition, it should be considered as a specialized person or with great knowledge in a subject. Anything else is scam.
Querámonos a little bit more and odiémonos a little less. That we have come too far as to now to walk the road.