[TriLUG] Gnome foundation results

[Andrew C. Oliver]

>I guess I'd feel better about Mr. Stallman if I ever heard him offer
>some 
>practical advice to people like me.

+1

>I use emacs, and I am very appreciative of his efforts in creating it.
>I 

-1 (emacs)

>have used a good number of GNU tools, and again, I am most appreciative
>of 
>his work and of the FSF.

+1

>But when he implicitly castigates me as immoral because I earn a
living> writing proprietary software, all I can say is that I live in
>the world that 
>is, not the world that could be. I have a mortgage amd a monthly car 
>payment. If I ignore the electric bill, the phone bill, etc. etc., I
>will 
>lose those services. The grocery store will not give me food -- they
>expect 
>to be paid for it. If I fill up my car without paying for the gas, I
>will be 
>arrested.

+1

>I would love to be able to write software and give it away ... but then
>who 

what do you mean.... you do.  It just hasn't paid off yet *g*.
(www.sourceforge.net/projects/poi - Marc supplied brilliance and sweat,
I started the thing and supplied a little direction and sweat -- why are
we doing it?  boredom, shameless self promotion, because we can)

>will give me the money I need to live on? I do not hear Mr. Stallman 
>offering me, or people like me, any useful advice.

+1

>I greatly admire Mr. Stallman for all he and the FSF have done. I have 
>benefited greatly from their work. But he is an obstructive and 
>counterproductive influece when dealing with people who have to live in
>the 
>world as it is, who have bills to pay and the only way they can pay
>those 
>bills is to be paid for writing software.

+1

Besides, the big companies that charge us for our food, mortgage, etc,
should have to pay us for the software they use.

And yes I know its not "free as in beer" and I understand the
all-in-all.  Just there are some things you have to write with a big bag
over it until they pay you.  (non-infrastructure)

>The bottom line is, it is not enough to say "no", as he does. An 
>alternative, a real world alternative, has to be offered, and there he
>comes 
>up short.

+1

The great thing about free software is that its a communist conspiracy. 
The problem with free software is that its a communist conspiracy.

>It is regrettable that the Gnome foundation will not be taking
>advantage of 
>his unquestioned genius. And it is well that they will not have him on
>the 
>board, for I fear that he would spend far too much time pushing his own
>agenda, and that would not be to their advantage.

-1 

Its regrettable STALLMAN won't be taking advantage of his unquestioned
genius to better Gnome.  If you read his objectives, the vote was a
referendum on those objectives in combination with knowledge of his
methods, etc.  Nothing prevents him from working on the project and
coding, making technical recommendations.  He can even work to thwart
the project by starting a political crisis on the developer's mail
list.  He just can't be on the foundation.  Like I said..too bad, so
sad, break out the beer.


-Andy
-- 
www.sourceforge.net/projects/poi - port of Excel format to java
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/bugParade/bugs/4487555.html 
			- fix java generics!


The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to
vote.
-Ambassador Kosh