Editing Magnifica Humanitas: A Plain-Language Overview (section)

=== Solidarity means the independent programmer is not alone ===

Subsidiarity does not mean radical individualism.

Perl Guilds does not imagine the independent programmer as an isolated genius who owes nothing to anyone.

The craftsman depends upon others constantly.

He uses languages written by others.

He installs modules maintained by others.

He reads documentation written by others.

He inherits operating systems, compilers, protocols, libraries, examples, standards, and accumulated technical knowledge.

He may rely upon customers, fellow programmers, reviewers, mentors, maintainers, publishers, hosting providers, and communities.

The virtue of '''Humility''' acknowledges this dependence.

The principle of '''solidarity''' adds that the craftsman should also contribute to the good of others.

This can take many forms:

* answering a newcomer's question;
* maintaining a CPAN distribution;
* reporting a defect accurately;
* contributing a patch;
* writing documentation;
* sharing a working example;
* paying for a commercial tool when its author reasonably asks commercial users to support it;
* teaching an apprentice;
* referring work to another programmer;
* reviewing somebody else's code;
* preserving knowledge that might otherwise disappear;
* and helping another craftsman remain economically viable.

The guild idea should therefore never become a closed caste.

A healthy guild preserves knowledge, forms new craftsmen, supports independent work, and creates relationships in which people can help one another flourish.