Re: question for candidates

[Bastien Nocera <hadess hadess net>]

On Mon, 2010-06-07 at 13:15 -0400, Richard Stallman wrote:
> People and corporations will not choose Free Software (or Open Source,
>     or any derivative flavour) because it's free.
> 
> Stating that as a broad, universal claim goes against the facts.

Did you read the full e-mail before taking this line out of context? It
was supposed to be a broad statement.

> Many people have already chosen free software precisely for the sake
> of freedom.  So have some national and regional governments.

They chose it first because it matches their requirements, then because
it was libre software. Or because it matched their requirements close
enough that they'd be able to modify it for those.

> However, you're not entirely wrong.  Many people indeed won't choose
> free software because it is free; they are only interested in the
> convenience and price of software, and do not appreciate freedom.
> 
> There are two ways to win over these users: make free softwre more
> attractive, and teach them to appreciate freedom.
> 
> Improving GNOME contributes to the former approach.  GNOME PR creates
> an opportunity to contribute by teaching people to appreciate freedom;
> my question is about how we will take advantage of the opportunity.

I completely agree with you, but, as I mentioned in my original mail,
I'm not interested in working on the promotion of Free Software as a
philosophy, but I want to show how far we can go in terms of the better.

For the longer term, being able to sway potential contributors
(personal, or institutional) to the benefits of Free Software and Open
Source is important, but we always need to show that we are a viable
alternative to proprietary solutions. This is where my focus is.

Cheers