A different look at the situation.... Thanks... I enjoyed reading it.
On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 16:05:13 -0600, Dan Littlejohn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > With all of the negative and distracting dialog lately, I thought I > would post something more positive. > > I suppose that I should start by acknowledging that this is a bit off > the beaten path, but I think that every one likes to be "Free" so > everyone should be able to relate to this. (I also acknowledge that a > large part of the Myth Mailing List is not from the US) And before I > start, let me clarify that I only believe in the American Founding > Fathers so no current political party bias or bull. > > That said, one of my personal hero's is Benjamin Franklin (I know, > maybe odd). But, a great many great things have come from this man > and when I was thinking things over I realized that there was a common > thread with MythTV and the things he had done. > > When Franklin was starting out, even before he even started his own > newspaper, he formed a book club, because at the time, books were > scarce and when you could find them they were expensive. Only the > rich had books and the poor had very little opportunity to access > them. The book club allowed people to pool their resources and > discuss the books so they could gain knowledge, understand topics and > the world on their own terms, and create opportunities for themselves. > This eventually grew into free public libraries. > > I see this freedom in the MythTV community in much the same way. A > small group of people now control most legacy media outlets, and for > the most part, people gain the great majority of their news, > information, and entertainment from TV, music, and movies. I read > somewhere that the biggest innovations to come in our age will be for > the effective filtering of information, because there is just to much > of it for everyone to look through. I see MythTV as one of those > filters. (Google or maybe www.clusty,com would be others). MythTV, at > only the users request, strips out all of the crap that the small > group of people would add to TV, music, and movies, to control our > intake of information, our time, and our habits. (alot of it is the > only game in town.) And I understand that you could choose not watch > TV and read books or sit in a cave, and if they did not make any money > that there would be no programming at all, but there is now this > alternative. Legacy media could and should provide a useful service > and make a reasonable amount of money like other businesses, but they > are choosing not to and are choosing not to change. I see the way > that MythTV provides free access to information the way that you would > like to have it as very similar to Franklin's Book Club. Having the > ability to pick and choose what you see and hear, when you want > changes your view and opinions of issues and the world (even if you > only choose to use it for entertainment). Personally, it makes me > feel more "Free", and that is what initially attracted me to the > project in the first place. > > Therefore, I would like to thank Issac Richards and all the current > Developers of MythTV. My hope that people will continue to be Bold > and develop these great new things in the face of the slander and > threats of the small group of people that would take away our freedom > for money. > > If you are still reading, thanks for your time. > > "They that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety > deserve neither liberty nor safety." > - -- Benjamin Franklin > > Dan > > > _______________________________________________ > mythtv-users mailing list > [email protected] > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users > > >
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