MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-02-10 |
| FROM | Richard Stallman
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Re: eGovOS conference in D.C.; I'm not attending that
|
We don't want the headlines to be "Academic freedom is OK for controversial
racists but not for Microsoft," "Whatever happened to the first amendment
-- George Washington University charged with bias against unpopular views
at conference," "Microsoft is right, Free Software is UnAmerican charge
Microsoft supporters in Congress after Microsoft denied right to speak at
free/open-source software conference,"
Advocates must never be timid about what their opponents will say
about them. That way lies fatal weakness. These accusations would be
easily refuted, and we will refute them.
"Government employees ordered to
withdraw from conference committee and drop involvement with Free Software
after controversy over rejection of Microsoft as speaker at conference."
If they did, we could use it to great effect: the US government
insists that free software events must offer a platform to a convicted
corporate felon. It would play especially well overseas where people
increasingly hate the US government for many reasons.
I wish that the opposition inside the US government were so overt.
____________________________
New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
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