MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-02-12 |
| FROM | Dave Williams
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Stanco show his colors
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Below is the text from Tony Stanco's editorial to NewForge this morning:
Leave it to the kooks in the community to make Microsoft look
sympathetic. I heard from Microsoft yesterday on the chatter over their
appearing at our Open Source in Government conference and they quickly
proposed that they be uninvited. Not so fast.
The unspoken subtext of their offer was: "Oh, we are so morally superior
to you Open Source guys. You guys are so intolerant. You talk a good
game about free speech, high principles and morality, but you are no
better than we are.
"In fact, you are worse. We invited Eben Moglen from the Free Software
Foundation to our annual BSA convention in Washington a few months ago
to talk about the GPL, and everyone welcomed him with open arms when he
spoke.
"No protests. No boycotts.
"We respected his right to free speech. But you guys, you guys... you're
hypocrites! How can the government possibly trust its systems to flakes
like you?"
What the loons on the extreme of the extreme don't understand is that
Microsoft would love to have an excuse to not attend. Microsoft is not
coming because it wants to. It is coming because it is compelled to.
It's Microsoft's government customers who want them there to explain
themselves in public when they say that Shared Source is better than
Open Source, instead of just talking that way in private. And it is the
government that wants them to do it in front of Open Source supporters,
so that they can hear both sides at the same time.
Instead of trying to throw Microsoft out, we should be asking that they
do more and present their very best. And then have our best, say Eben
Moglen or Bruce Perens, debate whomever they put forward as their
champion. And then trust that reasonable minds can decide for themselves
which side has the better arguments.
This fear and intolerance of opposing viewpoints is an anathema to
reasonable people and hurts Open Source more than anything anyone can
possible say against it.
So far the responses are sympathetic. People are calling him out as the
true hypocrite, and my favorite cliche has always been the one about how
people are more likely to be guilty of they accuse others.
He's reading a lot into Microsoft's reaction -- I would prefer a direct
quote instead of his interpretation, because I'm not convinced those are
actual MS quotes. But then again he did say in the first article that
he likes being halfway in-between Microsoft and OSS.
Is there any way to get this guy to have nothing to do with Free
Software or Open Source Software? Can he just call his organization the
Tony Stanco Society or something? I mean it's great that he has
opinions and everything, but I don't have the luxury of hosting
conferences in the name of Open Source and enforcing my opinions on
others. Maybe if I earn a law degree and hang around DC I can earn the
right.
Mr. Perens, how long will you remain silent and defer explaining you
position on this subject? Will you keep referring all questions to Mr.
Stanco, Esq.? What are you getting out of this position in his Cyber
Institute anyway?
I'm glad he is so skilled in anti-logic, but the fact remains that there
was no reason to invite them other than his personal motivations. He
created the issue, and now he's trying to turn the tables. Fine, let
Microsoft think I'm an irrational kook. One invitation to Eben Moglen
does not make up for past and future anti-competitive behavior. There's
nothing to discuss. What impact did Mr. Moglen's speech at a BSA
conference make anyway? Have they stopped harassing and extorting small
businesses? Do we even want them to, when that motivates them toward
Open Source?
____________________________
New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
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