Re: FSF, terminology, and marketing

[Brian Cameron <Brian Cameron Sun COM>]

Shane:

> Well I dont think many people outside of FSF care. Its harder to say
> GNU/Linux and more people simply call it just linux. We should respect
> the FSF but its not a big deal in my opinion. Its just politics. 

It may be politics, but within the context of the GNOME marketing-list,
there should be some sensitivity to politics.  The GNOME Foundation does
have relationships with various governments and does try to encourage
them to use free and open source solutions, for example.  So, our
messaging should be consistent, and I think we should not discount
something in this forum for being "just politics".

Having a good relationship with the FSF is important.  At the moment, we
are doing a joint Women's Outreach program with them.  The GNOME
Foundation also has certain benefits, like the fact that we are able
to use the Software Freedom Law Center due to our free software status.
By working with the FSF, and following their recommendations, we may
find that more doors open, and we may find more opportunities to do
interesting and positive things with them and other free software
organizations.  Aside from the fact that promoting free software with
the terminology we use may be just a "good thing" for any free software
community to do.  If we choose not to follow their recommendations we
may be like that uncle who always says inappropriate things and never
gets invited to certain parties.

However, as I said before, we do need to consider how the terminology
we use affects our other partners, such as our advisory board members.
Improving our relationship with the FSF at the expense of our
relationship with others, or with the public at large, might not be a
good idea.  However, I do not think we can make a decision without first
talking about it amongst ourselves and with our advisory board members.
So, I think it is a good idea to do both before making any sort of
decision.

Brian