+1 On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 2:44 PM, Bibek Paudel <[email protected]>wrote:
> > Dear All, > I consider myself a responsible member/volunteer of the Free Software > Community of Nepal (FOSS Nepal). Therefore, I have chosen to express a > few of my views regarding Software Freedom Day 2009 being organized on > behalf of FOSS Nepal. For any open community, means of communication > like this mailing list are the best and preferred ways to air one's > opinions and start discussion. I hope this will be taken in that light > and that this will be taken totally in a healthy and free spirit. I > don't mean any harm to any individual, organization or ideas and noone > should take this mail personally. A healthy discussion full of valid > arguments and reasons would be highly appreciated. Also, I mean > everything written in my signature, especially the 2nd point. > > Like all of us, I was preparing myself for Software Freedom Day 2009 > in Kathmandu. I and my friends were even thinking of doing a session > on a few enterprise level free softwares with my friends. Because of > personal reasons, I hadn't been able to find enough time to involve > myself in the preparation and organization of SFD this year but it was > good to see enthusiastic and some new volunteers gearing up for the > event, all very well. Yesterday, I received this invitation > ( > http://groups.google.com/group/foss-nepal/browse_thread/thread/e21b5416a725bd16 > ) > for SFD, written in an informal language, where, all of a sudden the > name of the event had changed to "D2Hawkeye Services Software Freedom > Day 2009." > > The wiki page of SFD had also moved and the page now reflected the > change in the name. A few hours and discussions later, the page moved > back to its original location with the original name intact. This > surely smelt foul. Is this something official, or done at the whims of > some person (or a group or person)? If it is official, why is it > changed every now and then and without announcing it first anywhere? > If it isn't official, why is this happening, who is allowing this to > happen and if this is wrong, what actions will be taken? And where is > the integrity of FOSS Nepal as a community (or as an organization > too)? Yesterday evening, weird things were seen on twitter too. > Anybody can search for @fossnepal 's tweets and witness of the kind of > personal messages and verbal abuses broadcast for the whole world to > see. Of course, it now seems that the right to feel ashamed of such > activities are reserved by only a limited fraction of this community. > > First of all, the change of name was never announced, let alone > discussed in this mailing list. No page related to SFD ever mentioned > that. Some guys told that the "Concept Note" had such ideas and it was > the fault of those who hadn't read it. But the concept note > (http://wiki.fossnepal.org/index.php?title=Concept_Note) doesn't even > contain the word "Prime Sponsor." Then someone suggested that the > "Generic Proposal" contained the idea. Of course it did, but as it is > apparent, the Proposal was meant for Sponsors and anybody who's not a > sponsor would hardly download and study it. Even if someone would have > wanted, before any discussion was called, the Proposal was already > made ready for "download" after being "prepared" > ( > http://groups.google.com/group/foss-nepal/browse_thread/thread/3908789b5adac6ab/27b59e8eaafe764a > ) > . Even in the "Generic Proposal" (whatever the word generic means in > this context, I am made to believe that is is a Proposal for SFD 09), > it has been mentioned, "Event is named after the sponsor, For example. > 'ABC Software Meeting 2009'". I am not sure if it was intentional, but > the language sure leaves a lot of room for ambiguity. > > Coming to the main point, as I remember from last year's SFD > celebration, there was a heated discussion in a meeting over naming > HLCIT as an "organizer" of SFD. After intense debates, it was decided > that it was preferable to organize a small but 'free' SFD rather than > letting HLCIT take the credit of organizer of the event in return for > sponsorship. This was a very contentious issue and I am sure a similar > issue this year deserved some feedback and comments from the members > of this community. Letting it go just like that means an attempt to > validate it by letting no discussion happen about the issue. This > year, a sponsor (albeit it maybe one who's contributed a lot to Free > Software in Nepal and blah blah) has been allowed to changed the name > of an international event whose sanctity has been proven to be a very > sensitive issue (as demonstrated last year) among Nepalese and > international FOSS supporters alike. > > As I've written somewhere else > (http://groups.google.com/group/foss-nepal/msg/f4dd2958885e34e1), if > FOSS Nepal isn't some INGO or NGO, we deserve an answer to the > questions raised here and I hope that will happen. > > > Thanking you, > Bibek Paudel > > -- > Disclaimer: > By sending an email to any of my addresses you are agreeing that: > 1. All information in the email is mine to do with as I see fit and > make such financial profit, political mileage, or good joke as it > lends itself to. > 2. I may take the contents as representing the views of your company. > 3. This overrides any disclaimer or statement of confidentiality > that may be included on your message. > > > > -- Mr. Abhudaya Sagar Kshetri (ASK?) Url: www.sagarkshetri.com.np email:[email protected] <email%[email protected]> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ FOSS Nepal mailing list: [email protected] http://groups.google.com/group/foss-nepal To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] Community website: http://www.fossnepal.org/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
