(OT) FSF involvement

[Daniel Villarreal]

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On 05/06/2016 09:57 AM, flapflap wrote:
> flapflap:
>> Peter Lebbing:
>>> On 05/05/16 17:17, Werner Koch wrote:
>>>> Well, this is not an FSF sponsored list.  I never received
>>>> any money or other resources from the FSF.
>>> 
>>> gnu.org lists GnuPG as a "GNU package", a part of the GNU
>>> Project. I kinda assumed that that would imply some form of
>>> involvement of the FSF in GnuPG... be that infrastructure or
>>> other support or whatnot...
>> 
>> I might be wrong, but I thought that the "Thou Shalt Not
>> Advocate Proprietary Software" rule is because of the rules for
>> GNU Projects -- not because of the FSF. They are two different
>> organisations for different purposes. Previously, I believed to
>> have read these rules in the "Information for Maintainers of GNU
>> Software" [0] but could not find it any more.
> 
> I found it, finally, in the guidelines for becoming/submitting a
> GNU package [0]:
> 
> "A GNU program should not recommend use of any non-free program,
> and it should not refer the user to any non-free documentation for
> free software."
> 
> and
> 
> "Since a GNU program is released under the auspices of GNU, it
> should not say anything that contradicts the GNU Project's views."
> 
> IMHO, these are valid positions for a GNU Project.  Non-free
> software is unjust, and thus, should not be recommended (including
> advertisement) -- unless a much higher good (e.g., life and limb
> after a catastrophe) than software freedom is in danger.
> 
> As others have said earlier in this thread, it's fine to discuss 
> non-free software by the above rules, but advertisement is not
> discussion.
> 
> ~flapflap
> 
> [0] https://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html

hey flapflap,
I think you're onto something. I think people who care about
open-source/libre software should carefully consider how they mention
proprietary and/or non-free/non-libre software. I feel people can
discuss almost anything if handled in a thoughtful, respectful manner.

Maybe GNU people would consider touching on this topic at
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html
or some such page?

At the same time, I wouldn't want a "Chilling effect" [1]

[1] Dr.Ian Goldberg
Battling Internet censorship and surveillance
Privacy Enhancing Technologies for the Internet
Cryptography, Security, and Privacy (CrySP) Research Group
University Research Talk
18 February 2016
http://livestream.com/itmsstudio/events/4783392
University of Waterloo
https://uwaterloo.ca/


- -- 
Daniel Villarreal
http://www.youcanlinux.org
youcanlinux at gmail.com
PGP key 2F6E 0DC3 85E2 5EC0 DA03  3F5B F251 8938 A83E 7B49
https://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xF2518938A83E7B49

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