Re: FSF, terminology, and marketing

[Paul Cutler <pcutler gnome org>]

On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 6:19 PM, Brian Cameron <Brian Cameron sun com> wrote:

Paul:

* The most important thing we can do as marketers is know our audience.  While I respect Brian's comment we should be sensitive to politics, it's really dependent on document we're writing and whom it is for.

Agreed.

* Most of our marketing is at end users - and for that reason, I prefer "Linux" as that is the common word used by journalists both in the open source press and the mainstream press.

I can understand that position.  As I suggested before, there may be
certain audiences or situations where using different terminology makes
more sense.

For example, if we are doing a press release about something that we
are doing with the Free Software Foundation, then perhaps it would
probably be more appropriate to use the terminology they recommend, for
example.

* I don't know if I agree that having a good relationship with the FSF is that important.  The anecdotal feedback I have on their recent campaigns, including Windows 7 Sins and Bad Vista is that it does more harm than good.  While I have great respect for the work done in the past on multiple fronts, including the GNU utilities, the GPL licenses and more, GNOME needs to be relevant now and respectful of our current and potential future users.

Still, there is no real value in creating friction where it is not
necessary.  So, even if there is value in using the term "Linux" in
some communications, it seems good to clarify if and when there are
any situations where following the FSF recommendations are recommended.

While we may choose to not use the term "GNU/Linux", perhaps we could
make an active effort to highlight GNU or the free software community in
other ways?

* Brian, I was curious about an earlier statement you made:  "since we are a GNU project " - are we?  What does that mean?   Looking at the gnu.org <http://gnu.org> website and fsf.org <http://fsf.org> GNOME is not mentioned once.  Searching on gnu.org <http://gnu.org>, the first search result that mentions GNOME is a 10 year old press release around GNOME 1.0.  What is our formal relationship with the FSF and GNU?

The "G" in "GNOME" stands for "GNU".  So, the people who created GNOME
felt it was important to be under the GNU Umbrella of projects and that
our project would be a shining example of a free software project.  :)

  http://directory.fsf.org/project/gnome/
  http://www.gnome.org/about/

My point is that we are being asked (or recommended) that we following their naming guidelines.  My point is how does the FSF respect GNOME - I am wiling to bet $100 a normal user couldn't find the http://directory.fsf.org/project/gnome/ link - you have to go their searchable database from a very small "Resources" link in the middle bottom of their page and manually put in GNOME.  Our desktop environment is arguably the 3rd most popular in the world after Windows and Mac OS X (thanks Ubuntu!) yet that's not mentioned anywhere on websites run by the FSF.  Unfortunately, irony in my original email doesn't communicate well.

 

Quoting from the last link:

> GNOME is...
> Free
>
> GNOME is Free Software and part of the GNU project, dedicated to
> giving users and developers the ultimate level of control over their
> desktops, their software, and their data. Find out more about the GNU
> project and Free Software at gnu.org.

In fact, I believe one of the reasons why GNOME replaced KDE as the most
popular software desktop on free/open operating systems is because of
its free licensing.  So, the current popularity that we enjoy is due, in
part, to our relationship with the free software community and the FSF.
So, perhaps we should honor that it some ways.

Yes, I remember the issues with Trolltech licenses 10 years ago.
 

Those are my long answers.  My short answer - I agree with Andre, and I prefer reality.  I look forward to hearing the Advisory Board's recommendation as well.

Yes, I think this is an issue that a lot of people have already made
strong opinions about, which probably makes it hard to think things
through very well.  So, I think we need to be a bit careful as we
consider this topic to not jump to any quick conclusions.

But, the fact that the lead of GNOME Marketing is not aware that GNOME
is a GNU project is probably a symptom of a larger problem - that we
do not do a very good job of promoting the free software aspects of our
overall ethic.  And regardless of what terminology we use for "Linux" or
"GNU/Linux", we probably should work to improve that.

I understand our history, and am even presenting on it next week.  Let me re-phrase the question:  What exactly is a "GNU Project"?  What implications does that tie GNOME to the FSF, who, in my opinion, despite everything they have done over the last 25 years, are earning themselves a negative reputation with poorly conceived campaigns like Windows 7 Sins?  As someone mentioned to me earlier today, we can have free licensing and free software without having to be a part of the FSF.

While I am jealous of their ability to market campaigns and the funding they have available, especially being a member of the GNOME marketing team, my recommendation would be to distance ourselves from the FSF rather than get closer.

I wish I could remember the blog post, article, or talk that was given that pointed out that GNOME may have been an acronym 10 years ago when founded, but it's not applicable today.  John Palmieri in his talk at GUADEC and recent GNOME Journal article argues the same thing that the "N" for "Network" doesn't apply either  I am more than aware of what the acronym is, thank you very much.  As I stated above, and I'll re-phrase, is there a perceived connotation of being part of the FSF by having the word "GNU" in GNOME?  

Without knowing what doors might be opened by tightening our relationship with the FSF, I believe that the risks do not outweigh the benefits of being associated with the FSF and I do not have a strong urge to use their naming conventions in GNOME materials.

Paul
 

Brian