On Wednesday 14 March 2007 20:37, Alfred M. Szmidt wrote: > So I take it that if we added some more layers of security to > ensure that the devices will actually be used for their intended > purpose, namely to make them run with fully Free Software, this > would take care of the issue you are seeing? > > In my opinion? No. It would not. The end result is the same, FSFE is > distributing non-free softawre to people, and asking them to pay to > get this non-free software.
The process is a high chance that there is more freedom in the end. Compromises like this - take proprietary stuff to liberate it - have been made by GNU hackers and FSF before, e.g. running on proprietary operating system when the other have been unpractical. > What if we asked people to send in some kind of application instead > of distributing them by random? What if we introduced some kind of > obligation to report back on the progress made in freeing it? > > While this makes things it a bit better, it still does not make it > right. What would happen if nobody does replace the non-free software > on these devices? Then it is likely that it was too hard. We cannot be sure that it can be done, until somebody has done it. Writing a report about this, will be quite an effort. If this person has demonstrated the technical abilities the time of the report will be worth more money then the device itself. > Does the person(s) send it back to the FSFE? Do they keep it? > Do they get a refund? They keep it and do not get a refund, because of the time spend trying to liberate it and writing the report. Also it might be that they later get better ideas and progress with the liberation. > This opens up alot more problem than it solves, > and probobly alot more work on FSFE's side that could > be spent doing something more useful. It is just a proposal for doing something useful with the devices. Sending them back will also not be good, as the necessary public reasoning will be quite a lot of work and negative one as well. Bernhard -- FSFE -- Coordinator Germany (fsfeurope.org) Your donation makes our work possible: www.fsfeurope.org/help/donate.en.html
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