Given the lack of evidence, I feel many of the claims regarding the "learning" that takes place in a community (what does it mean for a collection of individuals who come-and-go to "learn?") are overstated. For example, to say that "The responsibility for your learning rests in your own hands; people can and often will help you, but they're not obligated to." says to me that you are as likely to be unsupported by a group of strangers as anything else---which does not, to me, define a learning community in any way, shape, or form. And, perhaps most disappointingly, there are no concrete strategies or solutions offered: we are left to believe that people who want to learn things can magically do so if they have (1) time (an incredibly valuable and hard-to-come-by resource), (2) the Internet, and (3) committed members of a magical FOSS community who will stand by the learner's side and mentor them as they decide they want to learn... something.