[ubuntu-us-ma] [Fwd: [FSF] Launching the Windows7sins Campaign - Join us Wednesday in Boston]

[Drascus]

I understand what your saying. They are the old guard but in a lot of
ways we need the old guard. We need to have people saying "it's not
enough to use mostly Free Software you must use all Free Software." It
gives us something to strive toward. I woulnd't mind if they did
educational events and Gnewsense installfests and all that. I know that
Mako was fairly active in the ubuntu LoCo for a bit and he is an FSF
board member. The thing is though I also beyond this conversation
haven't seen the community crying out for it. I am sure that if we the
associate members all said hey do some more public education and
advocacy they would put a campaign together and do it. but no one has
said that or asked for it. Or at least not to my knowledge. I can't
really see what they would say beyond what the user groups already say.
I have seen them sponsor things now and then I am sure there members are
active in the local community to the best of their abilities. So I don't
know how much more we can ask of them. Ask not what the FSF has done for
you Ask what you have you done for the FSF to be corny about it.

Mike C. 


On Mon, 2009-08-31 at 23:41 -0400, Martin Owens wrote:
> There is room in their staff's approach to do both. How do they even
> know what they are campaigning for? It's all fairly pie in sky until
> their down on the ground installing these things on many machines for
> *other people*.
> 
> The FSF as a charity might want to keep to global social and political
> events. But the local people should be involved in local events, as for
> distro, that's a poor excuse. The work we do is as much about promoting
> the ideas of free and open source software as technology, I'd be happy
> enough with a Debian or GnuDistro guy educating and being involved.
> 
> I think they're just the old guard, made irrelevant in a lot of contexts
> just like the BLU. I'm reaching a conclusion that they're stuck in their
> ways and have simply lost creativeness like any old charity organisation
> that is distracted by the organisational work, away from the whole
> reason for being in the first place.
> 
> Of course I may just be being overly critical because they snub the
> Ubuntu group.
> 
> Martin,
> 
> On Mon, 2009-08-31 at 21:23 -0400, Drascus wrote:
> > well the FSF can't really advocate for any specific Distro more then
> > another. I think they leave the local advocacy and education to the
> > GLUGs/LUGs/and LoCo's which are better equiped to handle that sort of
> > thing. after all the FSF is international not just local. Besides most
> > of their money goes to Political/Legal Campaigns and Software
> > development, which is exactly where it should go for a social political
> > movement (in my opinion). They don't seem negative to me. In fact they
> > seem quite tame in comparison to some of the proprietary vendors hatred
> > toward us.
> > 
> > Mike C.  
> 
> 
>