Re: GNOME now

[Brian Cameron <brian cameron oracle com>]

RMS:

On 11/19/12 03:32 PM, Richard Stallman wrote:
>      I respect that those artists who create digital art should have
>      mechanisms to "own" their artwork or to control how it should be
>      consumed or presented.
>
> This is why we started the DefectiveByDesign.org.  I suggest making
> GNOME inform users about DefectiveByDesign.org so as to boost the
> campaign.  (People reading this might want to sign up.)

How do you propose GNOME should inform users?  Any promotion in the
GNOME source code would be complicated, if not impossible, to require.

> Two noteworthy erroneous assumptions in that text.
>
> * That DRM is set up by "artists" for their own personal goals.
> Typically it is implemented by companies.

I did not intend for this to be an assumption.  I did not say that
what we call DRM is the specific solution that should be used for
artists to "own" their artwork.  Instead I was trying to only suggest
that digital artists should be able to profit from their digital
artwork.  Maybe it is possible to profit from artwork that you do not
own, but that probably requires more social reorganization than I can
comprehend today.

> * That we "consume" digital works.  One of the advantages of digital
> formats is that using them does not consume them, or even wear them
> out.

"Consume" is not the best word to use as you point out.  Some works of
art are expensive and require financing.  Most movies or digital games
cost a small fortune to make, for example.  DRM may not be the best way
for such works to be financed, but it is a popular way used by many
average people today.  This is why, I think, the DefectiveByDesign
campaign exists as a voice of contrast.

Brian