I'm not so sure it would make people more hesitant to criticize the FSF. If
they are embracing the concept of free speech then they shouldn't have a
problem with people dissenting or proposing alternative viewpoints. If you
are confident that your philosophy is strong, then it should be able to stand
up to the test of dissent and opposition. In my opinion, that is a part of
healthy debate and should be encouraged.
I have to admit that I'm a bit of a newcomer to the 'free software movement'
myself. I've been dabbling a bit with GNU/Linux over the past few years, but
I'm just starting to realize how important free software is. What strikes me
though is how fragmented the free software community seems to be. The online
discussion seems to be broken up into numerous niche, distro-specific forums
like this one (great that it is, I don't mean to knock it!). It really seems
to be missing a central focal point to pull the community together.
Such a focal point would help to pool resources, ideas, projects among the
community. It would also be more accessible and easier to find for those that
are new to the concept of free software or those that aren't totally
convinced, but want to ask questions or find out more about it. Otherwise,
where do those people go to engage in the discussion? They're not going to go
on IRC or pay money to join a closed forum and there's probably little chance
of them finding a forum like this one. More likely, they're going to be
snapped up by Ask Ubuntu, or somewhere like that, and they'll be given
*their* version of free software (i.e. not free!).
Seems to me the FSF is missing an opportunity here to be that focal point. To
Arc's point though, I agree that here probably isn't the best place to make
this point. I probably should sign up as an FSF member and post it on their
forum - I'd be interested to see what their response would be.
