RMS candidacy (was: Re: 10 Questions for All Candidates)

[George <jirka 5z com>]

On Sat, Nov 17, 2001 at 01:56:53AM -0800, Bart Decrem wrote:
> Seriously, while I have a great amount of respect for RMS' achievements 
> and his crusade for free software, I think it would truly be a disaster 
> if he were elected onto the board of the Gnome Foundation.  I *really* 
> don't want the board to spend the next 12 months listening to tirades 
> about GNU/Linux versus Linux, how evil it is to ever mention commercial 
> software etc.  It's really important that the board be composed of a 
> team of people who focus all their energy on making GNOME successful, 
> and who are able to work together with others and respect diverging 
> opinions.
> 
> SO PLEASE, if you respect RMS and the Free Software Foundation and love 
> GNOME, send a check to
> 
> 	Free Software Foundation  
> 	59 Temple Place - Suite 330 
> 	Boston, MA  02111-1307,  USA  
> 
> and vote for a team of people who'll be able to work together and get 
> things done.

Precisely!

We should not vote people in because of what they did, and what they are, but
based on what they can do for the foundation.  RMS doesn't seem to be well
versed in the happenings of daily GNOME and probably has a lot of other
things to do besides GNOME.

The foundation should not be about discussing politics of free software, it
should be about making things happen.  Politics can be discussed on the
lists.  I think there is not, and there shouldn't be, any real power that the
board has over ordinary GNOME people.  It's role is purely diplomatic
and administrative.  At least that's what I think of the board as, but not
having been on the board, I don't know.

George

-- 
George <jirka 5z com>
   If you think nobody cares if you're alive,
   try missing a couple of car payments.
                       -- Earl Wilson