The Stallman Factor

[Victor Odhner]

Thanks, Alan.

From http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2002/0508.rms.html --
> I spoke to Strunk last week. He knows no matter what he
> does, some will be unhappy. If he changes the name of
> the group to SIG-GNU/LINUX, people will complain. If he
> misses the opportunity to have Stallman speak to the
> group because he doesn't change the name, others will be
> unhappy. The FSF put Strunk between a rock and a hard place.

I hold to the point I made before.  There really should be
a GNU Users' Group, and THIS group should remain PLUG.
GNUUG would be a low-activity group, but would establish an
identity and be prepared for Stallman visits, for the 20th
anniversary, for the arrival of Hurd, etc.  It would maintain
a mailing list and a simple web site, including resource
links for products that preserve the freedoms to run, study,
redistribute and improve.  It would be independent of the
Free Software Foundation, but would maintain strong links
in that direction.

We have some excellent Free Software resources locally
(Derek, for example), who would be excellent spokespersons
for The Cause.  There is nothing artificial about this, and
it would be a good complement to some other groups in the Valley.
And the Free Software movement needs coherent, professional,
diplomatic advocates who can help to mature the public
image of this line of thought.

I keep thinking about how silly I originally thought Stallman's
"moneybags" cartoon was, and how true-to-life it seems now.
It could actually play against some stories making it into
the newspapers nowadays.  ;-)

You can be an advocate for Free Software without becoming a
hermit, but there is an advantage for presenting the message
in a focused manner:  "Linux" draws in examples like Caldera
and muddies the water, so I think it would be great to have
a specialized mechanism for plugging (oops, wrong word) the
GNU message.  I'd help out with any such effort if anyone
wanted to be the spokesman.

Vic


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