Hi,
the European Parliament just got a new Member last week: Nils Torvalds, father of Linus.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/114268/Nils_TORVALDS.html
He has already signed up for the European Parliament Free Software User Group. I'm going to Brussels on Wednesday anyway, and have asked him for a meeting.
I'm confident that his grasp of Free Software will be rather better than that of the average MEP.
Best regards, Karsten
Hello,
I think you probably know this, but I will mention it just in case.
Torvalds was active in the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) since he was a college student in the 1960s. He was elected to the Central Committee of the SKP in 1982. He belonged to the Taistoist (hardline) minority. His political beliefs developed after learning of the atrocities committed against communist sympathizers in Finland. In >his
son Linus' book, he is reported as having lost enthusiasm for >Communism.
In 2007 Torvalds was elected to the post of the third vice chairperson of the Swedish People's Party. In 2008, he was elected in Helsinki City Council for term 2009–2012.
Source Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Torvalds
Regards, Anatolii
Some comments below:
Torvalds was active in the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) since he was a college student in the 1960s. He was elected to the Central Committee of the SKP in 1982. He belonged to the Taistoist (hardline) minority. His political beliefs developed after learning of the atrocities committed against communist sympathizers in Finland. In >his
son Linus' book, he is reported as having lost enthusiasm for >Communism.
In 2007 Torvalds was elected to the post of the third vice chairperson of the Swedish People's Party. In 2008, he was elected in Helsinki City Council for term 2009-2012.
Source Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Torvalds
I think the account is pretty much in line, although I do not know Nils Torvalds' history in more detail. He hasn't made many openings at all recently, at least not so that they would have reached me. My impression is that he is, as a person, an intellectual.
The Swedish People's Party is a liberal party. While their members have quite a lot of differing opinions regarding economy, the party is viewed slightly right-winged in the Finnish political scene. The unifying factor is the Swedish speaking minority together with the liberal approach to the questions on values.
Best, Martin
Regards, Anatolii -- Anatolii Doludenko Free Software Foundation Europe [http://fsfe.org] FSFE Legal Team [+49-15-211905867] e-mail [tolld@fsfe.org] Your donation powers our work! [http://fsfe.org/donate/]
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On Mon, Jul 09, 2012 at 04:24:02PM +0300, Martin von Willebrand wrote:
Some comments below:
Torvalds was active in the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) since he was a college student in the 1960s. He was elected to the Central Committee of the SKP in 1982. He belonged to the Taistoist (hardline) minority. His political beliefs developed after learning of the atrocities committed against communist sympathizers in Finland. In >his
son Linus' book, he is reported as having lost enthusiasm for >Communism.
In 2007 Torvalds was elected to the post of the third vice chairperson of the Swedish People's Party. In 2008, he was elected in Helsinki City Council for term 2009-2012.
Source Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Torvalds
I think the account is pretty much in line, although I do not know Nils Torvalds' history in more detail. He hasn't made many openings at all recently, at least not so that they would have reached me. My impression is that he is, as a person, an intellectual.
"Communist" tends to mean very different things in different countries, especially when principle meets practice.
I'm approaching him the same way I approach all MEPs: We'll have a polite discussion about what we can do together.
The Swedish People's Party is a liberal party. While their members have quite a lot of differing opinions regarding economy, the party is viewed slightly right-winged in the Finnish political scene. The unifying factor is the Swedish speaking minority together with the liberal approach to the questions on values.
In the EP, he's with the ALDE group (Liberals & Democrats). Not exactly a bunch of Stalinist hardliners.
Oh, and I had a look at his declaration of financial interests:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-dif/114268_04-07-2012.pdf
It's in Swedish, so I might be missing some details. But his income seems to consist of a Finnish pension. He also holds 10 shares in a mobile phone company. [1]
Best regards, Karsten
[1] No, not *that* Finnish mobile phone company.
Hi All,
"Communist" tends to mean very different things in different countries, especially when principle meets practice.
Nobody is saying that he is bad guy because of this. Baroso is e.g. also (former) communist as far as I know. Its just information, which might be important in some context, nothing more, nothing less (perhaps might also sound differently in some EU countries).
I'm approaching him the same way I approach all MEPs: We'll have a polite discussion about what we can do together.
sure.
The Swedish People's Party is a liberal party. While their members have quite a lot of differing opinions regarding economy, the party is viewed slightly right-winged in the Finnish political scene. The unifying factor is the Swedish speaking minority together with the liberal approach to the questions on values.
In the EP, he's with the ALDE group (Liberals & Democrats). Not exactly a bunch of Stalinist hardliners.
not every communist supporter has to be immediately Stalinist, but that is different discussion :)
Kind Regards, Martin