Re: GNOME: lack of strategic roadmap

[Ruben Vermeersch <ruben savanne be>]

On Wed, 2010-02-24 at 08:30 -0500, Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak wrote:
> On 02/24/2010 01:05 AM, Richard Stallman wrote:
> >      Software freedom is a means to furthering our vision of providing
> >      technology to all, regardless of means, physical and technical
> >      capability or culture.
> >
> > Freedom can lead to more available technology, but it is vital in its
> > own right.  It is little benefit to have technology available
> > if the price of using it is your freedom.  That is why we write
> > free replacements for existing proprietary software.
> 
> Richard is a purist, of course, but I do wish that gnome would beat the 
> freedom drum more, something like this:
> 
> Gnome, the Free Desktop: Free to Use, Free to Share, Free to Change
> 
> or
> 
> Gnome: The Desktop of the Free
> 
> or, more hiply,
> 
> Gnome: Own Your Code. Own Your Data. Own Your Desktop!
> 
> Really, this is the only thing that truly distinguishes Gnome from the 
> practical alternatives like MS, Apple. (Maybe a footnote could say 
> "...and less obscure than Xfce", hah hah.)

How about a healthy dose of ambition and aim for becoming the best
platform of choice, regardless of the freeness?

Trying to win a race where you're behind by competing on another level
probably won't win us much. Especially because the broader audience
generally puts more value to the qualities where we fall behind (and
unfortunately doesn't have trouble sleeping because of a lack of
freedom).

We're already the most free and open platform out there. Let's focus on
how we can become the best platform overall...

    Ruben