As I understand the point of the RMS/FSF campaign for GNU/Linux, it's to increase general awareness of the issues involved in the access we have to the software we use. Since it is almost impossible to put these issues into a simple sound bite, they want to setup a situation where people who are unaware of software freedom issues can trigger a discussion when they ask "so, what's this GNU thing all about?"
That's mostly to the good. But, many, including myself, don't like to pronounce guh-new (at least not in public), and find other ways to trigger the opportunity. The important thing is to open the way to the discussion, not how the discussion is opened. I know RMS is adamant about GNU, but I wish he would just set about trying to find a variety of ways to get the effect he wants (e.g. introducing a new word to English (like libre), going with a "GNU inside" logo for boxed distributions, making interesting L/GPL awareness inserts for CD cases, etc.), rather than insist on forcing an awkward tag on something that should be simply said (e.g. an OS name). Would it be sufficient for the EUGLUG web site to lightly cover these issues, include appropriate links, and then just duck the issue (i.e. let each writer handle it as the writer sees fit)? We could then hope (a remote hope I know) that RMS will see that we honor what he is doing, just not how he has set about doing it. In my view, this would serve the FSF's ends (user enlightenment), and be more appropriate for EUGLUG's rather diverse user base, many of whom have some very strong opinions on these matters and see this whole issue as an imposition. BTW, I'm very glad there are people like RMS out there who are strong in their ideals. Without them constantly stirring things up, many important issues would never be debated. On Wednesday 30 January 2002 08:30, Rob Hudson wrote: > I propose the following... > > Along with revamping the website -- giving it a new look that is easy > to maintain, easy to browse, a new logo possibly, a new layout, some > fresh content. Also update the 'What is Linux' page, although I just > checked and it mentions GNU and has a pretty good history of them and > their involvement. Maybe add a 'What is BSD' page there also. > > And in the end, just leave it the way it is. I don't think we need > to have 'GNU/Linux' everytime we mention the OS we are speaking of, > just to give shout outs to GNU. > > -Rob
