Hojla!
Stallman prihaja. Kdo bi želel pomagati pri končni izvedbi obiska?
Kdo si želi RMS-ja doma?
Miha...
- Miha Tomšič --- C. na postajo 55 -- SI-1351 Brezovica pri Lj. --- SLOVENIA -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 09:01:34 -0600 (MDT)
From: Richard Stallman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Official invitation to Slovenia
I presume that your speech will be similar to the Stuttgart one in
July, i. e. about GNU history and philosophical reasons for free
software?
My usual speech about the Free Software Movement and GNU takes between
2 and 2.5 hours. That typically includes over one and a half hours of
my speaking, plus plenty of time for questions, because people usually
want to ask a lot of questions.
I can manage to squeeze a speech into an hour, but some topics will be
omitted and there will be no time for questions. Once we are going to
the trouble and expense of having me come and speak, we may as well do
a thorough job of it.
A typical title would be this:
The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System
There are other topics I can speak about, such as
Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks
Facilities:
A microphone is desirable if the room is large, but I have a very loud
voice. A supply of tea with milk and sugar would be nice; otherwise,
non-diet pepsi will do (I dislike the taste of coke, and of all diet
soda). If it is good tea, I like it without milk and sugar. No other
facilities are needed.
Scheduling Other Meetings:
Academics visiting a school or conference typically have no work to do
except for that associated with the trip. They give their speeches,
and meet with the local people to discuss their work. They can spend
all day doing that.
My situation is different. I have to spend 6 to 8 hours *every day*
doing my usual work, which is responding to email about the GNU
Project and the Free Software Movement. Work comes in every day for
me, and I have to do it wherever I am. During the week I fall behind;
on weekends I try to catch up. The only reason I can travel at all is
that I can bring my laptop with me so I can work just as if I were
home.
So please do not try to fill up my day with additional speeches and
meetings. Instead, suggest to me whatever other activities you think
would be useful, and tell me why you think they are important. If I
agree, I will say yes--then you can make arrangements.
Interviews:
I am glad to give interviews to the press about the GNU Project.
Please ask journalists to *see my speech first*. My speeches are not
technical; they focus on precisely the sort of philosophical questions
that an article ought to cover. If the journalist does not attend my
speech, he will probably start by ask me to tell him the same things
that I said in the speech. That is not efficient.
Alternatively the journalist can read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/,
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html, and
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html before
the interview.
Putting my speech on the net:
If you would like to put my speech on the Internet, that is ok
provided you can make sure that a user can see it on a GNU/Linux
system using only free software. This is a matter of ethical
principle, so I will not compromise.
Warning about giveways:
You may find companies offering you CD-ROMs, books, fliers or
publicity materials to give away or sell at my speech. Please check
them before you accept them, to make sure that they don't promote the
very thing that we are working to replace.
For instance, the CDs may contain non-free software. (Most commercial
CDs of GNU/Linux contain non-free software in addition to the free
software.) If it isn't the official Debian GNU/Linux system, and
isn't Redhat Means Source Linux, then it almost surely contains
non-free software, so please don't hand it out or offer it at my
speech.
Books about use of the GNU/Linux system and about GNU programs are
fine if they are free as well. But many of them are non-free (see
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-doc.html). To see if a book is
free, check the license on the back of the title page. If it uses the
GNU Free Documentation License, or the Open Publication License
version 1 without options A and B, then it is free. If it isn't one
of those, show me the license and I will tell you if it is a free
license.
If you get publicity materials for companies, please check with me
before giving them out.
Accommodations:
I am willing to stay in a hotel if that is the way you want to do it.
But if there is anyone who wants to offer a spare couch, or even some
spare floor, I would much rather stay there than in a hotel (assuming
I could have some privacy by closing a door). Staying with someone is
more fun for me than a hotel, and it would also save you money. Floor
space is sufficient, because I bring an air mattress with me.
Note, however, that in a hot and/or humid place I need air
conditioning or I will be unable to sleep. Above 72 farenheit it
becomes difficult when there is high humidity.
I like cats, but they are not good for me; I am somewhat allergic to
them. But if the area I will be staying in is clean, that is good
enough--it is no problem if there is a cat elsewhere in the apartment.
Dogs that sometimes jump up on people frighten me unless they are
tiny.
Food:
I enjoy delicious food, and I like most kinds of cooking if they are
done well (the exception being that I cannot eat anything very spicy).
So I like to go to restaurants that are good at whatever kind of food
they do. I don't arrive with specific preferences for what kind of
food--rather, I want to have whatever is good where I am: maybe the
local cuisine, or the food of an immigrant ethnic group which is
present in large numbers, or something unusual and original.
So it would be nice for you to ask around among your acquaintances to
find people who like good food and are familiar with the area's
restaurants. They will be able to give good recommendations.
More arrangements:
My assistant, Brad Kuhn, will contact you with questions about the
arrangements for the trip. Please give him the information he asks
for.
