Re: [libreplanet-discuss] libreplanet-discuss Digest, Vol 79, Issue 9

[IngeGNUe]

On 09/12/2016 11:43 AM, Serge Hooge wrote:
>> On the one hand, I've never experienced the Free software community as
>> caring very much about corporate correctness (I say corporate because
>> this is a far cry from political correctness), which for some people
>> can be very refreshing. Some of us got really fed up with Windows and
>> looked for other options, and then found GNU and the philolophy
>> around Free software.
> 
> Definitely. 
> 
> My main point is that limiting sarcasm in a place of discussion is
> nothing short of censorship. And censorship on a mailing list with the
> word "libre" in it sound ludicrous to me. North Korea reportedly banned
> sarcasm not long ago, last I heard.
> 
> A public mailing list, to me, is a place for discussion and discussion
> requires expressing opinions. Anyone should be free to express opinions
> regardless of somebody's personal agreement or understanding of such an
> opinion.
> 
> If it's the clarity of discussion people are so afraid about, then what
> happened to politely asking and getting a polite response back? There
> is no shame in doing so.
> If it's language or culture, well, you'll end up learning something.
> English is far from my first language and I certainly didn't end up
> learning it by telling everyone to speak easy English because I *might*
> end up not understanding it.
> 
>> On the other hand, I understand that it would perhaps be necessary to
>> see companies stop using proprietary software.
> 
> A lot of them already see the benefits from their business standpoint
> and contribute. The Linux kernel and Firefox are very good examples of
> that.
> 
> In the end, most of the contributors to one company's free software
> project will be their employees and bugtrackers, on the other hand, are
> places of business and not so much places of discussion. I can
> understand pushing for clarity there.
> 
> I haven't seen corporations that liberated their software projects get
> heavily involved with the actual community. Any company is driven
> mainly by profits and free software must be appealing to them from a
> business standpoint first and foremost.
> 
> Perhaps if they see their company names "tarnished" they will wonder
> why and try and get their name back. Because as of right now, I
> don't think they deserve them. And if they are not willing to actually
> stand for free software, then I don't see how they would fit into the
> community in the first place.
> 
>> What kind of support? Given that many of us do all this stuff for
>> free, I think hackers and helpers should get some "support" ($) in
>> return from companies (not individuals). Perhaps this could be part
>> of the move toward providing an easy way to donate to developers. (As
>> for tech support, anyone can build a regular business around that.)
>>
>> Thoughts anyone?
> 
> I absolutely agree. After all, this *was* the original topic of
> discussion.
> 
> Cheers,
> 

Serge, I concur. I am not exactly sure why it wandered off track like
that, but now we've come full circle :)