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8 Ways Companies Can Contribute to Open Source Communities

friendship and partnership will follow.

What if an OSS community does not want your contributions and assistance? Select a competing/alternate project. The true power of open source is the OSS community that forms around ideas and projects.

The Impact of Contributions to OSS CommunitiesCorporate contribution to open source enables highly productive communities. There are two types of communities: Those with a large corporate sponsor and those with grassroots support. The Android smartphone operating system or the Java language and runtime are examples of OSS projects that fostered large communities of users and developers and had corporate sponsorship.

The Ruby community is an example of a grassroots project. Of the 20+ core committers, none are full time developers on Ruby. In fact, the success of the Ruby on Rails web framework was another separate grassroots community which fed code contributions and grew the user base of the Ruby language itself (though it could be argued that 37Signals, the originators of Rails, was the corporate sponsor). The important thing to remember is that communities can grow faster and drive more innovation when they receive contributions.

OSS communities are a composite of skills (novice to expert) and of commitments to the project (users to core contributors). A community will have intermediate users helping novices, and experts helping intermediates. A community without any consistent, core contributors may mean that novice and intermediate users and developers cannot access education and assistance. They may move away from this OSS community and choose alternate projects.

There is an important funnel within OSS communities that needs to be fostered: Novices become intermediates who become experts, and users become developers who become core contributors. The benefits of corporate assistance can be to ensure the community has consistent access to intermediate and expert assistance for users and developers.

The net goal of an OSS community is self-sustenance for the projects problem space. Not all corporate assistance serves this net goal. For example, if the core contributors are experts and cover all needs of the project in their role as developers, there may be no motivation for users to evolve to become developer contributors. Also, if an OSS projects brand and identity is too aligned with a specific company, the projects users may not identify as members of the OSS community. In each case, users may have fewer reasons to join the OSS community and to contribute to it and share it with their peers. The OSS community growth is stunted, the funnel is poorly balanced with only non-committed users and company-sponsored experts, and few participants in between.

With this point, there is one recent, high profile, real world example. The Jenkins CI (formerly Hudson CI) community is large, and recently demonstrated it was loyal to the community of Jenkins, not the trademark holder of "Hudson" (Oracle).

When Oracle, a relative newcomer to managing open source projects and communities, attempted to enforce rules and restrictions on the Hudson CI development team, a community decision was made toand rename it Jenkins CI. The community of plugin developers and users quickly followed, forking and renaming their projects. Its important to remember that contributions to open source communities do not necessarily come with absolute control.

Eight Ways to ContributeThe growth of OSS continues unabated. New platforms, new languages, and new frameworks all encourage developers to create and contribute OSS and the OSS communities around the projects themselves. None of the open source software used today would have made a dent if it werent for contributors.

Contribution to OSS communities is always appreciated and drives innovation and growth. Contributions can range in activity from the most simple to the most complex. Here are eight ways that companies can contribute to the open source community contribution:

Submit bug reports.Improve documentation.Provide testimonials about the OSS your enterprise uses.Allow staff members to work on OSS libraries/applications that your company uses.Push changes to OSS back to the developers of those projects.Host OSS club meetings on your premises; or feed and water the attendees.Extract out and make "open source" the libraries or applications developed in-house.Free up use of paid software/services for OSS communities.Staff developers are increasingly demanding that they be allowed to contribute to OSS communities as part of their daily job. Salary and perks may be less important to many developers than the chance to contribute and participate with peer developers around the world. The opportunities for enterprises and their staff to participate in OSS communities is only just beginning. Your enterprises success or failure to navigate OSS communities and utilize OSS may enable or bottleneck its success.

Interested in more Business resources? Check out , a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.

Image courtesy of Flickr,

Christian Social Network Expands Into 120 Countries Creating Large Online Christian Community

We couldn’t be more pleased with the response we have seen from Christians all over the world,” said Vince Jensen, founder. “The reality is, we are spreading the Christian faith in countries where people are not able to freely express their religious beliefs,” he said.

The Christian Social Network continues to grow its online presence in the United States and announced earlier this month that it now offersand a Christian Chat feature. The online Christian community is already particularly rich in social media includingand Christian music.

“Music has been instrumental in spreading the Christian faith for over a century,” said Mr. Jensen. “PrayerGroup is simply taking the next step and using social media like Christian music videos to ignite faith in Christians. It’s hard not to be moved by both the music and message,” he added.

In addition to its Christan music and videos, the Christian Social Network has made a point of keeping its online community focused on worship. Its active prayer request and Christian blog sections receive input from people around the globe. In addition, the Christian community offers free pages to churches and ministries.

“What people are beginning to realize is that social media is no longer about cyber-farms and minute-by-minute status updates. We are really making a difference by reaching out to Christians and providing real content with a real message of faith,” said Mr. Jensen. “I suppose you could call PrayerGroup the social network with social responsibility,” he added.

For more information please visit PrayerGroup at .

About PrayerGroup PrayerGroup is dedicated to providing faith-based content through a social media platform. Building on the need for a worldwide , PrayerGroup.org offers Christians around the world a place to share their faith online. Its Christian social network is noticeably rich in faith-based media content such as Christian music, videos and blogs but remains equally focused on worship. PrayerGroup offers an international prayer request exchange online, online bible and other faith-based forums to members across the globe. Its mission is to unite the world by expanding human compassion and the gift of collective prayer.

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Vincent JensenPrayerGroup818-717-7350Email Information

Nighttime parades an Easter tradition in Spain

As incense and candles burn, trumpets blare and drums beat, penitents covered in colorful tunics and conical hoods march slowly through the night toward the cathedral. Life-size statues of Jesus and Mary are carried by porters hidden beneath floats, making the several-ton structures appear to hover through the air.

The ritual plays out every year during Holy Week, or Semana Santa, part of an Easter tradition celebrated throughout Spain. In the southern region of Andalusia, cities spend all year planning for the spectacle. Seville, the regional capital, hosts some of the biggest processions, dating back to medieval times and organized by brotherhoods, or cofradias, each sporting their own colors.

For tourists here to see the Easter spectacle, Seville offers plenty of other things to do as well with its soaring cathedral, Real Alcazar (fortress), bullfighting ring, flamenco clubs, tapas bars and art galleries. Seville is also a convenient base for exploring Andalusia, making it easy to hop from city to city while seeing some of the best parades set against some of its most beautiful historic places. Cordoba, with its tangled warren of narrow streets and rich Catholic, Islamic and Jewish history, is only about 45 minutes away. Within a two-to-three hour trip are Cadiz, one of Europe's oldest cities; Granada, home of the breathtaking Alhambra fortress; and Malaga, where the Semana Santa floats are bigger and are accompanied by more exuberant music and applause. Each city could merit an overnight stay.

Andalusia is flooded with tourists during Holy Week, so hotels can be expensive and must be booked in advance of Easter (April 24 this year). If you can't make it for Semana Santa, don't worry, festivals take place here year-round. If you don't visit around Easter, the images carried in the processions, called pasos, can be viewed in their home churches.

THE SEMANA SANTA TRADITION

Each wooden or plaster paso is a distinct depiction of the Passion or a grieving Mary, and some are centuries-old artistic masterpieces. They are tended to by the cofradias, many of which formed back in the 1500s and 1600s. Some of the pasos from back then are still carried today.

Female spectators dress in mourning, wearing black dresses with a lace scarf, or mantilla, held by a comb made of shell. Some lay Catholic associations started allowing women to march in recent years, but legend has it that women have always secretly donned the face-covering habits with pointed hoods and marched as penitents, or Nazarenos (the outfit was appropriated by the Ku Klux Klan). This year, the archbishop of Seville decreed that women must be allowed to participate, including carrying the massive floats.

Only God is supposed to know the identity of a Nazareno. A jarring sight is to watch the hooded penitents scurrying around town, rushing to their parishes before the marches begin.

Nowadays, many parents enlist their children in the brotherhoods at a very young age because it takes years to move up the ranks and earn a prestigious spot in a procession, such as the coveted position of carrying a great cross at the head. Most processions are at night, and the Nazarenos carry long candles to light the way from their parish church to the cathedral and back again, an arduous journey that can take over 12 hours. Some walk barefoot or even with shackles. In some of the biggest processions, a group of Roman soldiers follows.

The Nazarenos are followed by altar boys, some carrying incense. Then comes the main attraction, the pasos, decorated with flowers and candles. They are carried by costaleros, named for the sack-cloth they wear. Anywhere from two dozen to several dozen costaleros will carry the paso, and will set it down and raise it back up again periodically (their toil can draw applause from appreciative crowds). The costaleros, who can be seen reaching for water during breaks, are guided by an overseer, or capataz, who calls out commands or uses a hammer to signal directions.

The biggest brotherhoods parade up to three pasos. While some processions are eerily silent, others are followed by a brass band that plays mournful music on trumpets, drums and cymbals. Sometimes singers along the parade route will offer a saeta, a religious form of improvised singing that sounds similar to flamenco and is often sung from balconies. The procession peaks when it finally reaches the cathedral.

Processions in Andalusia begin on Palm Sunday and reach their pinnacle after midnight on Good Friday, a time known as La Madrugada. Ask at a tourist office for timetables, names of the must-see processions and where to view them. Bring a map and allow plenty of time, as navigating a maze of blocked streets can be difficult. Expect the unexpected, such as tourist sites closing early or processions being canceled by rain.

Kids can collect a souvenir prized by local children: a ball of wax formed by asking the Nazarenos for drips from their candles, which can be of various colors.

During Lent, the Spanish eat plenty of vegetables and fish. One Easter pastry is torrijas, sweet fried bread soaked in wine.

Here are some details on visiting Seville, Cordoba and Granada:

SEVILLE

Seville, a two-and-a-half hour high-speed rail trip or short flight from Madrid, is the dynamic hub of Andalusia, known as Al-Andalus during the nearly eight centuries of Islamic rule over various parts of the region. The medieval city's most prominent relic of the Muslim era is the towering La Giralda, which began as a minaret and later became the bell tower of Seville's Santa Maria Cathedral, one of the world's biggest churches. The sprawling cathedral was a symbol of the port city's great wealth and houses the marble tomb of Christopher Columbus (the Dominican Republic also claims to have his remains).

On Easter Sunday, a parade of over a dozen cardinals and bishops attends Mass. The area around the cathedral is a hive of activity during Seville's Semana Santa, when more than 50 brotherhoods swing into action. Here the pasos are draped to cover the costaleros beneath.

After midnight on Good Friday, the first procession is said to be the oldest: El Silencio, which marches in silence. Jesus del Gran Poder (Jesus of the Great Power) follows, parading its prized image of Jesus carrying the cross. Next is La Macarena, with its popular image of the grieving Mary. The last of six processions is Los Gitanos (The Gypsies), which arrives at about dawn.

Seville dedicates a weeklong fair after Semana Santa — this year it's May 3-8 — to flamenco dress and dancing, bullfighting, eating and drinking sherry, or Jerez (the part of Andalusia it comes from).

Begun as a cattle fair, the feria transforms the fairgrounds into a tent city, with parades of horses and carriages, guitar players and aristocrats in traditional dress. This is when the bullfighting season peaks at the city's historic Real Maestranza arena.

CORDOBA

Its ancient center might seem quaint and charming now, but a thousand years ago, Cordoba was considered a megacity and an intellectual hub as the Umayyad caliphate's capital. The city's multi-faith past can be seen at the Mezquita-Catedral.

Originally the site of a Roman temple and then a church, it was transformed into one of the world's biggest mosques, with its endless red and white arches. After the Catholic reconquista, a cathedral was built in the center and it remains strictly Catholic today. Not far away is the white-walled Jewish Quarter, where one of the world's largest Jewish communities once lived and where the Jewish philosopher Maimonides was born.

Semana Santa is more somber here. A boisterous time to visit is during the Cordoba Guitar Festival, when world-class guitarists play and courses on flamenco guitar, dance and song are given (July 5-16 this year).

GRANADA

About three hours east of Seville by train, less by car, Granada is home to one of Spain's most visited tourist sites, the masterpiece of Islamic architecture known as Alhambra. It began as a fortress and later a Middle Ages palace was built with richly carved reliefs and mosaics that reveals itself through its strategically-placed archways. Tickets are limited and can be booked in advance. Avoid crowds by visiting early or late in the day. The Generalife gardens are alone worth the price of admission, offering stunning views of the palace and the city below.

The Alhambra, set on a steep hill, is home to a cathedral and makes for a magnificent setting for Semana Santa processions that wind their way uphill.

In June, Granada hosts a big Corpus Christi fiesta, which merges with its weeklong annual feria (Corpus Christi is June 23 this year). The Granada International Music and Dance Festival brings top musicians to venues like the Alhambra and Generalife (June 24-July 12 this year, when beloved Granada poet Federico Garcia Lorca will be celebrated).

OTHER CITIES

For a more low-key approach to Semana Santa, Madrid hosts some parades, and more elaborate processions can be seen in nearby cities like Toledo and Segovia, just 30 minutes away by high-speed train; Cuenca, an hour away; and Valencia, 90 minutes away. Semana Santa is also a venerated tradition across the north in places like Zaragoza in Aragon and Zamora, Valladolid, Leon and Salamanca in Castilla-Leon.

No. 22 Texas A&M rallies for 73-70 OT win over CU

BOULDER, Colo. – Nathan Walkup scored 18 points and B.J. Holmes added 13, including a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime, as No. 22 Texas A&M rallied for a 73-70 victory over Colorado on Wednesday night.

The Aggies (18-5, 5-4 Big 12) snapped a three-game skid.

The biggest shot of the night belonged to Holmes, who stepped back and connected on a long 3-pointer after the Aggies called timeout to set up a play.

Once in overtime, Texas A&M took control early, scoring the first six points. The Buffaloes (15-10, 4-6) worked their way back into the game, trailing 73-70 with 8 seconds remaining.

But Levi Knutson's shot at the buzzer came up short as the Buffs lost their eighth straight to Texas A&M.

Alec Burks led Colorado in scoring with 24 points and Cory Higgins added 19.

Texas A&M outrebounded Colorado by a 40-29 margin, with David Loubeau grabbing nine.

Clinging to a 58-57 lead, Burks missed a jumper with 32 seconds left in regulation and Loubeau grabbed the rebound.

The Aggies called timeout to diagram a play for leading scorer Khris Middleton, who drove down the lane, spun and tossed up a shot that bounced off the rim.

Burks grabbed the rebound with 10.6 seconds remaining and was immediately fouled. He made both free throws, extending the lead to 60-57.

After another quick timeout by Texas A&M, Walkup delivered a pass to Holmes, who launched his 3-pointer.

With 5:28 left in regulation, the Buffs reclaimed the lead on a trip down the floor that resulted in seven points, turning a one-point deficit into a 54-48 advantage.

Burks was fouled by Middleton on his way to the basket and then given an elbow from Kourtney Roberson as well, resulting in a technical foul on Roberson. Burks converted two free throws and Cory Higgins nailed a pair on the technical.

After getting the ball on the side, Higgins drained a 3-pointer.

It was Texas A&M's second technical foul of the night.

Earlier in the second half, Aggies coach Mark Turgeon, incensed over a no call, was assessed a technical.

Higgins hit two free throws and Austin Dufault connected on a jumper in the lane to increase the lead to seven. The Buffs appeared to be taking control of this back-and-forth contest.

But Turgeon's outburst lit a fire under the Aggies, who stormed back with a 10-2 run to take a 48-47 lead on Walkup's runner.

With a soft shot 3 minutes into the second half, Burks became the 27th player in team history to reach 1,000 points. The talented sophomore needed 55 games to achieve the milestone, the same number as former Buffaloes great Chauncey Billups, who finished with 1,020 points during his two seasons in Boulder.

Colorado guard Nate Tomlinson didn't play after spraining his ankle against Missouri on Saturday. His minutes predominantly went to Knutson, who finished with five points.

This was the first meeting between close friends Tad Boyle and Turgeon, who forged a bond while playing for the Kansas Jayhawks in the 1980s.

The tandem spent more than a decade coaching together, beginning as assistants at Oregon. Boyle then followed Turgeon to Jacksonville State and later Wichita State.

The buddies split up the partnership after Boyle received his first head coaching gig at Northern Colorado, where he resurrected the Bears' program before bolting for the Buffs.

Turgeon hasn't been looking forward to coaching against his friend, saying, "Hopefully we don't have to do it in the future."

They may not for a while, especially since Colorado will move to the newly formed Pac-12 next season.

Q&A on Egyptian Unrest: Internal Politics and Key Players

Egypt has long been one of America's strongest allies in the Middle East, but with popular protests on the verge of driving President Hosni Mubarak from office, Egypt's future relationship with the United States is in doubt. What is the current state of affairs in Egypt politically and who are the key players?

David Patel, a Cornell University professor of government who specializes in Middle East politics, Islamic institutions and political culture, talked about Egypt in a Q&A interview this week:

Q: A few days ago, you released a statement that the current regime was trying to foment chaos as an attempt to retain power. Can you talk about the seeming change in policy in light of Vice President Suleiman's more recent efforts to suppress the rioting through peaceful negotiation?

Patel: What we're seeing is a lot of movement within the party, pushing some people out. I think it's pretty clear that one faction within the [the ruling National Democratic Party] (NDP) is willing to sacrifice another faction within the NDP. A lot of the people associated with Gamal Mubarak [President Hosni Mubarak's son] have seen their assets frozen and their passports taken if they are not already out of the country. My sense is that a lot of the violence we saw a couple of day ago was orchestrated not from the cabinet, not from Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, or Mubarak, it was probably from mid-level NDP officials, other NDP officials, and people in the intelligence agencies.

There's a lot of competition within the party and they're pretty good at using thugs like this. There are networks of thugs that are used in elections and used to intimidate opponents. My sense isn't that the violence we saw a few days ago was from the top down, but from somebody else within the ruling party.

And you're right; the prime minister even apologized for it and said it was unacceptable. The military seems to be intervening more than they were before and that's why it stopped. The atmosphere in Tahrir is changed, it was a group of demonstrators under siege and now an almost festival-like atmosphere seems to be back with families and women in large numbers.

Q: Given the protesters' call for the immediate resignation of Mubarak and the current regime, who do you see as well-placed organizationally to take advantage of that and assume power in the short term?

Patel: The protesters are calling for a lot of things. Mubarak stepping down is the one that's easiest to chant. The real issue is: how is the transition going to be handled, and there are a couple different options. In Egypt the vice president is really the president-in-waiting. So picking Omar Suleiman is clearly designating him as the successor, and he is also someone who makes the Americans and the Israelis very comfortable. They know him very well from his time running the Egyptian Mukhabarat.

When you talk about a transition, what matters is really what's going to happen between now and September. Are they actually going to go ahead with presidential election in September? If so, how free will those elections be? Other people are talking about having parliamentary elections first, which could change things. Other people are talking about having some sort of triumvirate of one or two or three people leading some sort of transitional period which could be longer than September, delaying presidential elections and having some sort of constitutional review process first. Omar Suleiman would clearly play a prominent role, maybe even as a first among equals if that occurs.

Q: The constitution of Egypt clearly spells out the rules for succession, which would leave the NDP firmly in power if they were to follow those rules and Mubarak resigned. So it doesn't seem as though that's going to be an acceptable solution for most of the parties involved (other than the NDP).

Patel: It goes to the speaker of parliament. It also would limit the ability of a new president to call for new parliamentary elections. My understanding is that only an "elected president" can dissolve parliament and call for new elections. So, these are debates about the role of the constitution and how important that constitution and the words of that constitution should be for guiding this process.

It's pretty clear Mubarak isn't calling the shots anymore, right? Authority has moved away from him. Omar Suleiman is calling the shots. The people who were around and relied on access to Mubarak for their influence have found new patrons within the military and the party or are scrambling to find them. Mubarak is president in name only at this point.

He is hugely symbolically important, especially for the protesters, but even if he doesn't step down, his influence right now is minimal. He's not the one making statements anymore. It's Omar Suleiman who went on television the other day. It's Ahmed Shafik who's making statements. It's Tantawi, the defense minister, who's going down to Tahrir. So Mubarak's no longer the acting president. Even within the party, I don't think he's that important anymore.

Q: Of the other factions, there's the Muslim Brothers with whom the U.S. seems quite preoccupied. What is their actual influence in Egypt?

Patel: The Muslim Brothers are the largest and best organized of those opposition groups. We don't know how much support they have for several reasons. A lot of people supported the Muslim Brothers because they were seen as the only viable alternative to Mubarak. We know that a lot of the support for the Muslim Brothers comes from their ability to provide services that the Egyptian people need through clinics, schools and training centers. Well, if a new Egyptian government provides better for the Egyptian people and provides those services for the Egyptian people, maybe the influence of the Muslim Brothers in that avenue will decline.

There are a lot of people who like to say that they Egyptian Brothers have 15-20 percent of the Egyptian population behind them now. That's based not on how they did in the last election, but the previous election. There wasn't a free and fair election. There clearly wasn't a good expression of people's ultimate preferences, so you really can't estimate the support for the Muslim Brothers that way.

The Brothers have come out and said that they are not going to rule. They're not going to run somebody for president, and in fact, it looks like they are going to back a secular candidate for president. It seems like they've done everything they could to say that they will support a democratic process in terms of elections. They're working with secularists, and they'll be a part of the new order. They're not going to dominate it though. There's good reason, both empirically and theoretically, to think that they're not going to dominate Egypt in the short, medium, or long run.

The military is very well trained, it's very large, it's very well equipped. Order is not going to break down in Egypt. It's not like the Muslim Brothers are going to send their people out in the streets and seize power. The military isn't going to let that happen.

Q: One of the other groups that has become prominent is that of ElBaradei. Do you see him and his group, which, one might argue, has less in-country organization at this point, as playing a strong role?

Patel: He's been very prominent in the western media because he's a name and a face people recognize. He tried to position himself at the head of the protesters. You saw that there was a very dramatic scene of him going to Tahrir Square and giving a speech. My sense is that he doesn't have much of an organization in Egypt. Which could be both an advantage and a disadvantage, right?

He might be less threatening to various opposition groups as a figurehead, but he hasn't been able to consolidate all the opposition groups and voices behind him. There are a number of other groups that are negotiating not through him, but directly with the Egyptian government. The Muslim Brothers have said they would support him as a potential candidate for president. He's somebody who probably will emerge as one of the top two or three opposition leaders at least in the interim period. How much staying power he has in the long run, whether or not he can develop a political party and organization of his own is another matter entirely.

Q: Minister of Defense Tantawi is seen by many to be someone separate from Mubarak and Suleiman. While he may be following orders, the west is reporting that the military is taking more of a stand-offish role in support of the government. Do you see that as entirely false and only a western perspective?

Patel: You're trying to ask me if there's going to be a coup? The military is massive, at least 350,000 to 400,000. The Egyptian military currently runs between 15 and 24 factories around the country. They have massive economic and business interests throughout the country. Military officers and businesses and people connected to them are incredibly influential in the Egyptian economy. There's a lot of people in the Egyptian military interested in preserving their access to things, making sure that military contractors are involved in building all those new roads around Cairo, making sure that the military is the dominant player, especially in food industries.

They've gotten very good at dividing the kitty. They have become very good at balancing factions within the military. They've been a pretty stable military regime. You don't hear about coup attempts within the military in Egypt very often. I'd say the likelihood of a coup is very low. A lot of people have incentive to make sure the military comes out, as a whole, in a strong position, economically, perhaps even more importantly than politically.

Q: What do you see, in the near term, as a catalyst for ending the protests and getting back to ordinary life in Egypt?

Patel: Cairo and the surrounding areas are 18 million people, and the protests are concentrated in one area, Tahrir Square. Most of Cairo is, if not business as usual, seeing people going to work. People are going out and selling things, even in the middle of Tahrir.

The government is hoping that the protesters will get tired, that they'll, through attrition, go home. That doesn't seem to be happening. Those protesters there seem to be extremely resilient. If anything, the numbers have grown over time and they have tremendous staying power.

So the regime's strategy now seems to be to try to buy off some of the opposition. They've made what they see as some concessions to the protesters. They're hoping that the opposition groups will make some concessions. The Muslim Brothers sitting down to talk to Omar Suleiman the other day was a concession. They didn't agree to anything, as I understand it, but they did sit down with him.

A lot of different people try to represent the protesters and try to negotiate with the government, various groups of wisemen, ElBaradei, various political parties. The government's hoping that some of the opposition groups will pull their support away. They're hoping that some of the Egyptians who aren't involved in any way will say, "This has gone on too long. You've achieved enough; we can achieve more without being there in Tahrir." So they're hoping that public opinion in Egypt will turn against public protests. The protesters have said that they'll stay there indefinitely. It's been going on for two weeks now. The military has said they're not going to crack down so the protesters have a sense of safety now that they didn't have a couple days ago. I think you could see this continuing to go on for several more weeks, if you don't see some sort of agreement between various opposition groups and the government as to how a transition would occur... and for Mubarak to step down.

Q: The one thing that almost all the parties agree upon, is that they don't want outsiders to determine their future. They don't want people outside Egypt either corrupting the situation or exerting undue influence. That could be the United States, Iran, or whomever. What countries are well-poised, other than the United States, to continue or to begin to have a strong influence in Egypt?

Patel: In the short run, nobody. This is going to be resolved by Egypt one way or another. I don't think the United States can force Mubarak out of office. I don't think any other actors can put the pressure that will be decisive one way or another. Egyptians are determining the future of Egypt and that's a good thing. The Egyptian government continuously repeats the line that these are foreign agitators. Sometimes they blame Iranians. Sometimes they blame Israelis. Sometimes they blame Americans. They're all sorts of rumors flying around about outside agitation to weaken the homeland, to weaken the stability of Egypt. I haven't seen any evidence of foreign influence in the protests whatsoever. This is clearly an Egyptian, and a very diverse Egyptian, protest.