Re: Who would be a good member? [Was: About the coming election]

["Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak" <mjc avtechpulse com>]

Richard Stallman wrote:
> I think that one requisite of a good board member is a visible
> commitment to the goal of a world in which software is free.

I think the Gnome Foundation could make heavier emphasis on free and 
open data / file formats too, as a marketing tool (and mission statement 
bullet point, etc). We all take this for granted, but other OS users are 
used to proprietary and patented data formats. It's especially useful 
since "vendor lock-in" is a buzzword that corporate suits can relate to.

I'm a little surprised that http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html 
doesn't directly address data formats, actually.

The ooxml issue might not have blown up so much if we were more vocal on 
this point.

We should make it explicitly clear that we _aggressively_ support open 
and interoperable standards, and _grudgingly_ support non-free standards 
so that you have a reasonable migration path.

My 2 cents...


- Mike