MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-03-17 |
| FROM | Adam Kosmin
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] Opinion: Software Freedom Day 2004
|
I think any location could work as long as we can have a "sidewalk"
presence. I envision setting up a small table in a highly populated area
and inviting people to "come inside" if they're interested in
seeing/hearing more.
Adam
Michael Richardson (MRichardson-at-abc.state.ny.us) wrote:
"
" I checked with my church (First Unitarian Congregation in Brooklyn) located
" at Pierpont and Monroe place. They have the August 28, 2004 open after 2PM.
" And we can rent the chapel. It is on ground level and a good size space.
" The rent is very reasonable.
"
" "In The Business World An Executive Knows Something About Everything, A
" Technician Knows Everything About Something, And the Switchboard Operator
" Knows Everything." No one person is smarter than their team!
"
" Contact information for Michael L. Richardson
"
" mrichardson-at-abc.state.ny.us 1 212 961 8385 Main Line New York State Liquor
" Authority 1 212 961 8314 My Direct Line NYS Liquor Authority 1 212 961 8382
" Fax NYS Liquor Authority
"
" miker-at-nylxs.com 1 718 627 0106 NYLXS, INC. & FREEDOM IT
"
" michael.l.richardson-at-verizon.net 1 718 469 9242 Home Voice/Fax 1 718 213
" 1646 Cell
"
"
"
" -----Original Message-----
" From: Inker, Evan [mailto:EInker-at-gam.com]
" Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 1:22 PM
" To: 'Hangout-at-nylxs.com'
" Subject: [hangout] Opinion: Software Freedom Day 2004
"
"
" Opinion: Software Freedom Day 2004
" http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=6287
"
" You, the reader, are hereby invited to participate in a celebration of Free
" and Open Source Software (FOSS) on August 28th this year. On that day we
" will stage public events to inform the general public about the virtues of
" FOSS. We invite you to form local teams and set up tables in town centers,
" shopping malls, or wherever there are likely to be lots of people on a
" Saturday.
"
" Average computer users are not aware of FOSS, and at this point there is no
" reason they would be. Even worse, certain proprietary software companies,
" unwittingly aided by the press, have spread disinformation about FOSS.
" Recent coverage has been especially disappointing, with spurious connections
" being made between programmers and virus writers; this shows a clear lack of
" knowledge in the mainstream press. In order to counter this trend, FOSS
" users and enthusiasts must make more positive contributions to the
" mainstream debate. We should provide positive stories to write about, not
" simply respond to the latest FUD. A global day of FOSS celebration will give
" us an opportunity to present our case to the media and directly to the
" public.
"
" But the real challenges are still only on the horizon. New lock-in
" technologies such as Trusted Computing are going to make interoperability a
" challenge, and legal instruments such as software patents have the potential
" to stop FOSS in its tracks. Patented file-access routines will clearly not
" be available as open source libraries, and the patents will prevent us from
" making our own versions. The result may be that FOSS will be unable to share
" data with a majority of programs on the Windows platform, something that
" will render both Linux on the desktop and OpenOffice.org useless in many
" people's eyes. This serious threat can only be successfully combated if we
" are able to raise people's awareness of these issues. That is why we believe
" that projects such as Knoppix, TheOpenCD, and now Software Freedom Day are
" so important. The best guarantee of a vibrant FOSS community into the future
" is that people in general grow fond of the Freedoms that FOSS can provide
" and start demanding it in the same way they demand democracy and free
" speech. Only then will politicians and companies listen. The power lies with
" voters and consumers where numbers count, and time is running short.
"
" It is against this background that we have formed softwarefreedomday.org.
" Our aim is to organize an annual, global celebration of FOSS on the last
" Saturday in August, starting with August 28th, 2004. We hope to build a
" broad coalition in the FOSS community. As a first step we have contacted
" major organizations such as the FSF, OSI, KDE, GNOME, the Berkman Center and
" others, to tell them what we are doing and to invite them to collaborate.
" The response has been positive, though no firm plans for common projects
" have been made (we are, after all, just starting out). We are especially
" interested in collaborating with other groups focusing on outreach
" activities.
"
" When trying to unite the various parts of the Free and Open Source
" community, you eventually run into the terminology issue of Free vs. Open.
" Personally, I think the term Open Source has been useful in getting a
" foothold in the business world, but this term may now be of limited use to
" us when we try to reach the wider public (what is source?). The average
" person will probably be more interested in the implications for free
" electronic speech than the technical development model. In his recent talk
" at Harvard Law School, Eben Moglen made the case that the Free Software
" movement is the Free Speech movement of the moment. This may be true, but I
" also think we can not ignore the fact that the term Free in English still
" means Gratis to most people. We need a fresh approach to getting our message
" across in a way that still highlights the core concept of freedom, which is
" why we settled on the phrase Software Freedom Day.
"
" As important is Freedom is, however, it is not the only key element of FOSS.
" The open development model pioneered by Linus Torvalds in his management of
" the Linux kernel and later described by Raymond in The Cathedral and the
" Bazaar is also a key component. The concept of releasing early and releasing
" often, combined with open debate on mailing lists and forums helps to create
" a vibrant community and a dynamism in the development process that closed
" source development cannot match. It is this powerful process combined with
" the strength of the GPL that has given us the solid offering of software
" that is now on the verge of mainstream adoption. Credit should be given
" where credit is due, which is why many choose to use the term GNU/Linux.
" Many coders, artists, writers, and others have contributed to our common
" pool of software, artwork and information simply because they enjoy the
" technical challenges or the sense of community, and may not have had freedom
" as a central focus. These contributions must also be recognized now when we
" present these profound ideas and useful programs to the world. This is why
" we as a project have adopted the somewhat long-winded term Free and Open
" Source Software as our standard. Individual participants and groups may of
" course use whatever term they like. Personally, I am starting to like the
" simplified version of Free and Open Software, because while it is more
" manageable than the longer version it still credits the various contributors
" including non-programmers. The word Open now influences the reader's
" interpretation of the word Free in the direction of Libre rather than
" Gratis.
"
" We hope to involve a large number of teams in the actual staging of the
" event. These will be comprised of LUG members and other enthusiasts, who
" will make local contributions all around the world. Each team will typically
" set up a display stand in a public place to distribute printed information
" and pressed CDs with selected high quality and user friendly FOSS. These CDs
" should also include a range of appropriately licensed introductory
" literature. Some teams might have computers available for demonstration, and
" there may be keynote speakers in lecture halls and on web-casts or public
" showings of 'Revolution-OS'. We should also aim to invite people into our
" on-line communities so that they can continue to explore the world of FOSS
" also after the 28th of August. After all, some of these concepts take some
" time to get one's head around. If some of the outreach teams had network
" access out in the street, we could sign people up for our on-line portals on
" the spot, have dedicated IRC channels or a gallery of web-cams from around
" the world. That would make it a truely global happening! Our imagination is
" the only limit and we look forward to seeing what groups around the world
" come up with.
"
" Our role as a project will be to help coordinate things and provide the
" required infrastructure, including a web portal, posters and fliers, and
" most importantly, high quality (pressed) CDs with FOSS that the teams can
" distribute on Software Freedom Day. To finance all this, we will be seeking
" sponsorship from local and global FOSS-friendly companies. The weeks
" preceding Software Freedom Day should be used to inform the media about our
" plans, to distribute fliers, and to hang up posters inviting locals to
" attend. We should also use the opportunity of this event to send letters to
" politicians and companies in which we give our views on software patents and
" related issues.
"
" So, please join us and bring your friends! We have much to celebrate, and
" it's time that everyone had an opportunity to discover the wonderful world
" of Free and Open Source Software.
"
"
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"
" ____________________________
" NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
" Fair Use -
" because it's either fair use or useless....
" NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
"
" ____________________________
" NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
" Fair Use -
" because it's either fair use or useless....
" NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
"
--
"Yes, Your Honor. Now, where we are so far, in at least my
line of reasoning, is I want to walk the Court through enough of our
complaint to help the Court understand that IBM clearly did contribute a
lot of the Unix-related information into Linux. We just don't know what
it is."
-- Kevin McBride SCO vs. IBM 12/05/03
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
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