2008/11/3 Alessandro Rubini <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Yavor Doganov: >> Users who switch to free software for non-philosophical reasons (like >> the company I work for, or my uncle) cannot possibly defend the cause >> or keep up the community, because they're ready to trade away the >> freedoms they have (because, as you say, they don't realize them and >> don't value them).
> However, in my experience people realize their freedom once they have it. As far as I can tell it usually takes them being screwed over at least once to realise that freedom is actually important. This is why "DRM-free" is now a positive marketing term for reaching non-technical users, e.g. http://mako.cc/copyrighteous/20070705-00 The general public seem willing to sacrifice some freedom for convenience - e.g. iTunes, XP, Flash - but *not too much* - e.g. Vista. I suggest the most useful practical thing at present is to promote free elements wherever possible, e.g. Firefox on Windows is the gateway drug to Firefox on GNU/Linux: using Firefox on an Eee is identical to using it on Windows. Maintaining a firm position is useful, but behaving as though those less pure than oneself should be expelled is ... counterproductive. - d. _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion@fsfeurope.org https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
