Questions

[Richard Stallman <rms gnu org>]

> 1) Why are you running for Board of Directors?

For the sake of closer connections between GNOME and the rest of the
GNU Project.

> 2) Do you have leadership and committee experience? If so, please explain.

I've led the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation since their
initiation.  Looking around at the GNU/Linux system and the free
software community, we've come pretty far.

> 3) How familiar are you with the day-to-day happenings of GNOME?  How much
> do you follow and participate in the main GNOME mailing lists?

I have not followed them before.  I am starting now.

> 4) One of the primary tasks of the Board of Directors is to act as a
> liason between the GNOME Foundation and other organizations and companies
> to find out how the two groups can work together to their mutual benefit.
> Do you feel you would be good at understanding other people and companies
> and finding ways that GNOME can collaborate with other companies and
> organizations to benefit both groups and their users?

I've been doing exactly this for the GNU Project for years.

> 6) The board meets for one hour every two weeks to discuss a handful of
> issues.  Thus, it is very important that the board can very quickly and
> concisely discuss each topic and come to concensus on each item for
> discussion. Are you good at working with others, who sometimes have very
> differing opinions than you do, to reach concensus and agree on actions?

People have given me have a reputation for being uncompromising.  Much
of this reputation comes from people who disagree with me on basic
questions of freedom and wish I would not stand firm for them.  On
those questions I am resolute.  I also insist that people give the GNU
Project credit for its work.  Those who don't stand up for their
rights don't tend to get much respect; I want GNU to get respect.

On purely practical questions I have years of experience making deals.
Once someone actually denounced me in public for offering to exchange
concessions with him so that we could come to agreement--i.e., because
I suggested that we search for a compromise.  (I laughed at the
contrast between this and my "uncompromising" reputation.)  Which
other candidate can say the same?

> 8) Do you consider yourself diplomatic?  Would you make a good
> representative for the GNOME Foundation to the Membership, media, public,
> and organizations and corporations the GNOME Foundation works with?

By nature, I am not diplomatic at all.  But over the years I've
learned, from necessity, a fair level of self control.  For several
years I've maintained useful working relationships with people at
companies such as IBM and Sun, even at the same time as I disapprove
of some of the things those companies do.