-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Patrick McNamara Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 7:46 PM To: Timothy Miller; [email protected]; Patrick McNamara Subject: Re: [Open-graphics] Discussions with Richard Stallman
> Oh, and should Patrick McNamara and the OHF follow suit? Asking him > to change OHF to something else is about like asking Traversal to > change its name. Some things are much harder to do, so this is > entirely up to him and his board members. But I just thought I'd > mention the idea. That would be somewhat difficult right now as it would require filing and amendment to the articles of incorporation which are currently working their way through the cog that is the state goverment of Texas. I certainly understand RMS' postion on "free" vs "open" and generally agree with him, though I differ on some points. I am a bit more pragmatic with an undertone of idealism. Still, I have concerns about using the word "free" in the title of a hardware project or the Foundation. While it does pose less of an issue than "open" in terms of confusing meanings, the big confusion it does have, between free beer and free speech, causes significant issue with hardware. In the general sense we will never be producing free as in beer hardware. This means that any packaging or press materials that reference "free hardware" will cause serious problems in the general problem. In the lawsuit happy US, I can certain see someone saying "It said there was free hardware in the box. I didn't get anything free. I'll sue for false advertising!" So yes that may be an exageration, but only a little. Patrick M ------- I would also concur with Patrick on this issue 100%. The term "Free" implies entirely TOO much that would cause confusions or be misleading with hardware. As with anything in the English language if we are careful to "define" what our "Terms" mean as simply as possible we should minimize any confusion down the road. I'd say stick with Open. OHF, OGP etc.. Certainly don't mind working with FSF, and Stallman himself. I don't however thing the advantages of the term "Free" help any at all against the existing term "Open". Jonathan Smith _______________________________________________ Open-graphics mailing list [email protected] http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics List service provided by Duskglow Consulting, LLC (www.duskglow.com)
