(resending, mailing list rejects default webmail format) Hi
On 1/22/08, Kevin Donnelly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Monday 21 January 2008 12:48, Andrew Savory wrote: > > Ah, but you're making assumptions on what I do. I do practise what I preach > > - I use the same software to host my sites as I encourage customers to use. > > I do not (and would not) preach to customers that they should switch to > > Linux desktops, OpenOffice, etc - except in a few very special cases - and > > so there's nothing hypocritical here. > > Ah, I understand now. You're a bit like an 18th-century liberal espousing > universal suffrage, but not for the lower classes, women or blacks. I still > don't see how the zealotry of insisting that closed software should still > have a privileged position in the landscape wins out over the pragmatism of > advocating the benefits of free software (eg access to your own data), but > that's a circle for you to square. I find it hard to believe that the time > or useability advantages are all on one side, however. Wow ... that's quite a leap. From "not hardline enough to be Free Software" to racist, chauvinist supremacist? You, sir, are a master of reductio ad absurdum. My point is this: of course it would be wonderful if all of the people I talk to would make the switch to using Free Software desktops right away. However, it would have a detrimental impact for them for all the obvious reasons (lack of suitable replacements for all proprietary packages, retraining requirements, etc). Therefore I focus on helping people get the benefits of FLOSS _now_ where it is _most suitable and appropriate_. It seems like quite a sensible approach to me, and I'd love to hear a reasonable explanation of why this is _not_ a sensible approach. Oh, and this does not mean I hate poor black women, ok? > > It's a bit like saying that everybody should do their bit > > > to reduce global warming, but that your work requires you to hop on a > > > plane > > > every week - your message is bound to be weakened somewhat. > > > > Was the net effect of Al Gore's work positive or negative? Positive. > > How many flights did he make whilst doing his presentations? Lots. > > Was his message weakened? Only to those with a weak grasp on reality to > > being with. > > I never mentioned Al Gore - I had in mind the common or garden business > person, in fact. their message would certainly be weakened ... if it were > sincere to begin with, of course. Well, replace Al Gore with anyone doing particularly good works for the environment. I am not claiming that Free Software is 100% suitable for "prime time" on the desktop, so I don't think that using a proprietary OS is hypocritical. A. _______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk
