Re: Supporting the free software movement
For what its worth, I believe that if we truly want to promote free
software, we need to begin reaching out to people outside of the
typical tech-sphere. A great place to begin would be with educators
and kids. There are many conferences not specifically related to tech
and free software where we could (and should) be promoting ourselves -
conferences related to homeschooling, science, education, etc. Because
we focus on those already interested in tech we miss out on a huge
segment of the population who is most interested in software that
works and is cheap/free ('as in beer', though they are likely
receptive to the ideals of free software 'as in freedom' as well).
I have spent most of the last year refocusing away from free software
and on my children and their education. This past winter/spring I ran
a class on free software in our homeschool co-op, where I gave out USB
thumb drives to my (4) students and explained the basics of free
software, how to contribute, etc and did my best to get them used
to/comfortable with it. One student chose to install on their own
laptop midway through, and, as far as I know has had no problems thus
far (I'd actually installed on another student's laptop in a
completley unrelated class the semester before as well). This fall
I'll be teaching a class in the same co-op on cryptography freedom
online, where I plan to hand out usb sticks with Tails, teach students
to use GPG encryption and properly use Tor, i2P and other anonymous
tools online, while constantly reminding them of the need for free
software.
It is only through this sort of outreach to kids and people who are
otherwise ignorant of the importance of freedom that we will ever be
able to build a knowledgeable society. The current focus of too many
free software projects is within themselves and the (relatively) small
tech sphere who already knows of their existence. We need to change
this, and begin to reach out to those who are 'just users' of our
software, if we ever want expand our reach and truly compete with the
proprietary software which is so ubiquitous in our lives today.
On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 9:11 AM, Richard Stallman r...@gnu.org wrote:
[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
My question is intentionally broad. I'd like to see what candidates
think about the free software ideals and how they would promote them.
I am not thinking of one particular issue, and if they surprise me
with ideas I never thought of, that would be great.
--
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org www.gnu.org
Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call.
___
foundation-list mailing list
foundation-list@gnome.org
https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
--
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it. - Goethe
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't
matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr.Seuss
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that
counts can be counted. - Albert Einstein
___
foundation-list mailing list
foundation-list@gnome.org
https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Supporting the free software movement
- Original Message - From: Richard Stallman r...@gnu.org To: foundation-list@gnome.org Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2014 6:22:38 AM Subject: Supporting the free software movement [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider]]] [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]] [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]] Would candidates please answer the question, How will you direct the GNOME Foundation to promote the general idea of free software: that software should be free/libre? I mean, beyond just making GNOME a good and useful free program. Hi Richard, I'd like us to continue promoting free software applications and services that compliment GNOME's core offerings to the user and inter-operate with them well. We should also work on strong privacy and security features. I'd like to see a larger presence from GNOME at LibrePlanet, and will encourage people next year to submit talks about GNOME. I include the explanation of the four freedoms, license types, and distinction between Free Software and Open Source in the GNOME Newcomers Workshop. Thanks, Marina -- Dr Richard Stallman President, Free Software Foundation 51 Franklin St Boston MA 02110 USA www.fsf.org www.gnu.org Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software. Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Supporting the free software movement
On 2014-06-03 17:33, Marina Zhurakhinskaya wrote: - Original Message - From: Richard Stallman r...@gnu.org To: foundation-list@gnome.org Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2014 6:22:38 AM Subject: Supporting the free software movement [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider]]] [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]] [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]] Would candidates please answer the question, How will you direct the GNOME Foundation to promote the general idea of free software: that software should be free/libre? I mean, beyond just making GNOME a good and useful free program. Hi Richard, I'd like us to continue promoting free software applications and services that compliment GNOME's core offerings to the user and inter-operate with them well. We should also work on strong privacy and security features. I'd like to see a larger presence from GNOME at LibrePlanet, and will encourage people next year to submit talks about GNOME. I include the explanation of the four freedoms, license types, and distinction between Free Software and Open Source in the GNOME Newcomers Workshop. I agree with everything Marina said. The newcomer's tutorial at the GNU 30th was a great example of the ways FSF and GNOME community can work well together. I'd also love to continue to help the marketing team figure out ways to articulate and promote software freedom to nontechnical people as well as to our core userbase. How we talk about and explain what we do can be as important as what we do. karen Thanks, Marina -- Dr Richard Stallman President, Free Software Foundation 51 Franklin St Boston MA 02110 USA www.fsf.org www.gnu.org Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software. Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Supporting the free software movement
I will/would direct the foundation to use free software in any/all endeavors without exception. I will continue to encourage the foundation to work with other free software projects to better integrate with each other and promote each other. When we fight amongst each other we degrade all of the work that is done to improve and promote free software. We will only succeed in bringing free software to everyone when we cease the petty bickering which has divided us for too long. Only by working together and promoting each other do we have a chance to overcome the many misconceptions and prejudices which are aligned against us, and get free software into the hands of people everywhere. In order to do this, we must reach out to other free software projects and work to ensure that our software is compatible with theirs whenever possible, giving all of our users a wider variety of choices to use as we recognize that no one project is 'right' for everyone, but that free software is. Emily Gonyer On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 6:22 AM, Richard Stallman r...@gnu.org wrote: [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider]]] [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]] [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]] Would candidates please answer the question, How will you direct the GNOME Foundation to promote the general idea of free software: that software should be free/libre? I mean, beyond just making GNOME a good and useful free program. -- Dr Richard Stallman President, Free Software Foundation 51 Franklin St Boston MA 02110 USA www.fsf.org www.gnu.org Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software. Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list -- Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. - Goethe Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr.Seuss Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. - Albert Einstein ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Supporting the free software movement
Le samedi 31 mai 2014 à 6:22 -0400, Richard Stallman a écrit : Would candidates please answer the question, How will you direct the GNOME Foundation to promote the general idea of free software: that software should be free/libre? I mean, beyond just making GNOME a good and useful free program. I'm a bit puzzled* by the question. Beyond the technical aspect of GNOME the community making a Free desktop and eventually a Free operating system, the GNOME Foundation has always been about helping GNOME (as an ecosystem and community) thrive, and to promote Free Software. By raising awareness, Free Software in general benefits from GNOME's recognition. I am not aware of any actions by GNOME (the foundation, the community, the product) that have been detrimental to promotion of Free/Libre Software. On the contrary, as far as I know, everything that has been done so far has been in the interest of promoting the general idea of Free Software, and I don't foresee that changing. *: is there a specific issue that you are concerned with right now and would like to see addressed? Or should I simply interpret that as a request for confirmation that we will continue upholding our Free Software ethos and do our best to continue to raise awareness? The answer to both is obviously yes to me. Best regards, Jean-François ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
