[Fsfe-ie] IFSO Rules, Draft 2
malcohol at eircom.net
malcohol at eircom.net
Mon Nov 10 15:27:00 CET 2003
Hi there.
Loic Dachary <loic at gnu.org> wrote:
> I'm doing my best to cooperate with other activists
> worldwide.
Your contributions are very welcome.
> Instead of refering to the Free Software Foundation, it
> might be more informative to add a PREAMBLE before the
> OBJECTS that defines Free Software. Cut and past of the
> definition published on the fsf.org web site could do the
> job.
I support this idea.
> Rather that limiting the scope of the association to
> writing, usage and localization, it might be wiser to
> allow any kind of activity as long as it has a clear
> relationship with Free Software.
I disagree slightly here,
Firstly, the phrase ``clear relationship'' is surely open
to interpretation.
Secondly, what brings us together as a group is our belief
in free software. It is not necessarily the case that
someone who believes in free software must believe in all
classes of ``electronic freedom'' (e.g, those advocated by
the EFF).
For example, an important issue discussed at one of our
meetings was the current implementation of electronic
voting in Ireland. A conclusions was that, although an
important issue, it would not be a primary issue for a
*free software* organisation to tackle.
> Lobbying governments so that laws fair to Free Software
> are implemented does not directly relate to writing,
> using or translating Free Software although it seems
> clear to me that IFSO should be entitled to act on this
> front.
I would say such lobbying does fall under the phrase
``promoting and defending'' (used in the second draft of
the proposed rules).
> It is often the case that people think about these
> activities as marginal to the goals of a Free Software
> non-profit (or criticize them as too "political") and
> stating this clearly in the OBJECTS prevents useless
> discussions in the future.
I certainly believe that IFSO should be political! If a
piece of legislation (even potentially) interferes with
the development or use of free software, then I think we
should tackle it.
Good luck,
Malcohol.
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