Re: No Flags "Policy"

[Chipzz <chipzz ULYSSIS Org>]

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003, Jeff Waugh wrote:

> From: Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>
> Subject: Re: No Flags "Policy"
>
> <quote who="Julien Olivier">
>
> > > Because it means that GNOME will not be used in some parts of the world,
> > > regardless of what the United Nations says [1].
> >
> > I know you won't agree with me (and you might even be right), but I
> > wouldn't mind if GNOME wasn't used in such countries.
> >
> > I know China is a very big *market* for companies distributing GNOME but I
> > guess those companies should remove the politically-charged flags
> > themselves.
>
> Think about the Free Software market though. If we piss off Chinese and
> Taiwanese hackers - to use the favourite example - who might be inspired to
> contribute to GNOME, that's a really bad thing. Lots of potential hackers.
>
> It comes down to:
>
>   a) Using flags is impractical and confusing (despite the "pretty pictures"
>      and "icons are easier to spot" arguments).
>
>   b) Using flags may artificially reduce our audience.
>
>   c) Using flags may offend some users.
>
> - Jeff

One solution to this whole problem may be to make it a compile-time
option, something like --enable-politicly-charged-flags, in whatever
module these flags are included.

kr,

Chipzz AKA
Jan Van Buggenhout
-- 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 UNIX isn't dead - It just smells funny
                           Chipzz ULYSSIS Org
------------------------------------------------------------------------