Re: polarization

[bruce perens com (Bruce Perens)]

OK, thanks, this is better than the silent treatment I seemed to be getting.

On Thu, Nov 02, 2000 at 06:51:30PM -0500, Havoc Pennington wrote:
> So I feel like we're well-covered on the "talk to business and advocate
> GNOME/free software" angle.

A while back, Maddog and I discussed the fact that there were not enough
Linux advocates for one to give a speech at every trade show or other
speaking occassion where it would be appropriate. That is now the case for
GNOME as well. In general, I try to go to no more than one distant trade show
per month. Something similar is true for most people who are attempting to have
a life or run a company.

This is not necessarily a reason, alone, for election to the board, though.
You can do speeches even if you don't represent something. It's just harder
to get the show to pay for transportation and lodging that way. So some
good speaking opportunities for the project go by the wayside.

> I also remember Bruce mentioning applying for government grants or the
> like, and I wouldn't be in favor of that either, for the reasons we've
> discussed on this list (people felt the foundation shouldn't hire
> developers).

I want to hire documentors to write books. We don't have enough books that
are themselves Free Software. You of all people should know about the need
for that, and unfortunately it's not always possible to get a publisher to pay
an advance for writing a book that is itself Free Software. There have been
some big changes at New Riders and other publishers since you did your book,
and it's not so easy any longer. Look where Laurie is working these days.

Havoc, the foundation is about money. It's not about governance of the project,
that belongs in the developers hands. Liason with corporations is about money.
Some of the things we do other than coding take money. That's the number one
task of the board, whether or not they know it today.

I fear that in the future the foundation will also be about legal defense.
Of course, that's money too. I'm hoping that our new friends will remain by
our sides through patent lawsuits and so on. That's probably the true test of
them.

	Thanks

	Bruce