MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-03-09 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | RE: [hangout] Opinion: Software Freedom Day 2004
|
Agreed! Lets discuss this tomorrow at the Killarney Rose.
Regards,
Evan M. Inker (New York) x. 4615
-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Kosmin [mailto:akosmin-at-windowsrefund.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 3:16 PM
To: Inker, Evan
Cc: 'Hangout-at-nylxs.com'
Subject: Re: [hangout] Opinion: Software Freedom Day 2004
Let's do something informal and be a part of this. Ideas?
Adam
Evan Inker (EInker-at-gam.com) wrote:
"
" Opinion: Software Freedom Day 2004
" http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=6287
"
" You, the reader, are hereby invited to participate in a celebration of
Free " and Open Source Software (FOSS) on August 28th this year. On that day
we " will stage public events to inform the general public about the virtues
of " FOSS. We invite you to form local teams and set up tables in town
centers, " shopping malls, or wherever there are likely to be lots of people
on a " Saturday.
"
" Average computer users are not aware of FOSS, and at this point there is
no " reason they would be. Even worse, certain proprietary software
companies, " unwittingly aided by the press, have spread disinformation
about FOSS. " Recent coverage has been especially disappointing, with
spurious connections " being made between programmers and virus writers;
this shows a clear lack of " knowledge in the mainstream press. In order to
counter this trend, FOSS " users and enthusiasts must make more positive
contributions to the " mainstream debate. We should provide positive stories
to write about, not " simply respond to the latest FUD. A global day of FOSS
celebration will give " us an opportunity to present our case to the media
and directly to the " public. "
" But the real challenges are still only on the horizon. New lock-in "
technologies such as Trusted Computing are going to make interoperability a
" challenge, and legal instruments such as software patents have the
potential " to stop FOSS in its tracks. Patented file-access routines will
clearly not " be available as open source libraries, and the patents will
prevent us from " making our own versions. The result may be that FOSS will
be unable to share " data with a majority of programs on the Windows
platform, something that " will render both Linux on the desktop and
OpenOffice.org useless in many " people's eyes. This serious threat can only
be successfully combated if we " are able to raise people's awareness of
these issues. That is why we believe " that projects such as Knoppix,
TheOpenCD, and now Software Freedom Day are " so important. The best
guarantee of a vibrant FOSS community into the future " is that people in
general grow fond of the Freedoms that FOSS can provide " and start
demanding it in the same way they demand democracy and free " speech. Only
then will politicians and companies listen. The power lies with " voters and
consumers where numbers count, and time is running short. "
" It is against this background that we have formed softwarefreedomday.org.
" Our aim is to organize an annual, global celebration of FOSS on the last "
Saturday in August, starting with August 28th, 2004. We hope to build a "
broad coalition in the FOSS community. As a first step we have contacted "
major organizations such as the FSF, OSI, KDE, GNOME, the Berkman Center and
" others, to tell them what we are doing and to invite them to collaborate.
" The response has been positive, though no firm plans for common projects "
have been made (we are, after all, just starting out). We are especially "
interested in collaborating with other groups focusing on outreach "
activities. "
" When trying to unite the various parts of the Free and Open Source "
community, you eventually run into the terminology issue of Free vs. Open. "
Personally, I think the term Open Source has been useful in getting a "
foothold in the business world, but this term may now be of limited use to "
us when we try to reach the wider public (what is source?). The average "
person will probably be more interested in the implications for free "
electronic speech than the technical development model. In his recent talk "
at Harvard Law School, Eben Moglen made the case that the Free Software "
movement is the Free Speech movement of the moment. This may be true, but I
" also think we can not ignore the fact that the term Free in English still
" means Gratis to most people. We need a fresh approach to getting our
message " across in a way that still highlights the core concept of freedom,
which is " why we settled on the phrase Software Freedom Day. "
" As important is Freedom is, however, it is not the only key element of
FOSS. " The open development model pioneered by Linus Torvalds in his
management of " the Linux kernel and later described by Raymond in The
Cathedral and the " Bazaar is also a key component. The concept of releasing
early and releasing " often, combined with open debate on mailing lists and
forums helps to create " a vibrant community and a dynamism in the
development process that closed " source development cannot match. It is
this powerful process combined with " the strength of the GPL that has given
us the solid offering of software " that is now on the verge of mainstream
adoption. Credit should be given " where credit is due, which is why many
choose to use the term GNU/Linux. " Many coders, artists, writers, and
others have contributed to our common " pool of software, artwork and
information simply because they enjoy the " technical challenges or the
sense of community, and may not have had freedom " as a central focus. These
contributions must also be recognized now when we " present these profound
ideas and useful programs to the world. This is why " we as a project have
adopted the somewhat long-winded term Free and Open " Source Software as our
standard. Individual participants and groups may of " course use whatever
term they like. Personally, I am starting to like the " simplified version
of Free and Open Software, because while it is more " manageable than the
longer version it still credits the various contributors " including
non-programmers. The word Open now influences the reader's " interpretation
of the word Free in the direction of Libre rather than " Gratis. "
" We hope to involve a large number of teams in the actual staging of the "
event. These will be comprised of LUG members and other enthusiasts, who "
will make local contributions all around the world. Each team will typically
" set up a display stand in a public place to distribute printed information
" and pressed CDs with selected high quality and user friendly FOSS. These
CDs " should also include a range of appropriately licensed introductory "
literature. Some teams might have computers available for demonstration, and
" there may be keynote speakers in lecture halls and on web-casts or public
" showings of 'Revolution-OS'. We should also aim to invite people into our
" on-line communities so that they can continue to explore the world of FOSS
" also after the 28th of August. After all, some of these concepts take some
" time to get one's head around. If some of the outreach teams had network "
access out in the street, we could sign people up for our on-line portals on
" the spot, have dedicated IRC channels or a gallery of web-cams from around
" the world. That would make it a truely global happening! Our imagination
is " the only limit and we look forward to seeing what groups around the
world " come up with.
"
" Our role as a project will be to help coordinate things and provide the "
required infrastructure, including a web portal, posters and fliers, and "
most importantly, high quality (pressed) CDs with FOSS that the teams can "
distribute on Software Freedom Day. To finance all this, we will be seeking
" sponsorship from local and global FOSS-friendly companies. The weeks "
preceding Software Freedom Day should be used to inform the media about our
" plans, to distribute fliers, and to hang up posters inviting locals to "
attend. We should also use the opportunity of this event to send letters to
" politicians and companies in which we give our views on software patents
and " related issues. "
" So, please join us and bring your friends! We have much to celebrate, and
" it's time that everyone had an opportunity to discover the wonderful world
" of Free and Open Source Software. "
"
"
****************************************************************************
" This message contains confidential information and is intended only
" for the individual or entity named. If you are not the named addressee "
you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
" Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received
" this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. " E-mail
transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free " as
information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive " late
or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not " accept
liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this
" message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
" If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. " This
message is provided for informational purposes and should not " be construed
as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or " related
financial instruments. " GAM operates in many jurisdictions and is
" regulated or licensed in those jurisdictions as required.
"
****************************************************************************
"
" ____________________________
" NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
" Fair Use -
" because it's either fair use or useless....
" NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
"
--
"Yes, Your Honor. Now, where we are so far, in at least my
line of reasoning, is I want to walk the Court through enough of our
complaint to help the Court understand that IBM clearly did contribute a lot
of the Unix-related information into Linux. We just don't know what it is."
-- Kevin McBride SCO vs. IBM 12/05/03
****************************************************************************
This message contains confidential information and is intended only
for the individual or entity named. If you are not the named addressee
you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received
this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.
E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free
as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive
late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not
accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this
message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
This message is provided for informational purposes and should not
be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or
related financial instruments.
GAM operates in many jurisdictions and is
regulated or licensed in those jurisdictions as required.
****************************************************************************
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
|
|
