Subject:
Re: getting sponsorship and marketing LDP
From:
"Rodolfo J. Paiz" ####@####.####
Date:
16 Dec 2003 18:22:25 -0000
Message-Id: <6.0.1.1.0.20031216114959.0250fb90@mail.simpaticus.com>
At 17:49 12/13/2003, David Lawyer wrote:
>The GNU project's goal is to
>create all the software people need as free software. Stallman said
>something to the effect that if one can't run their business with free
>software, they should find another business.
Herein lies the major difference in our emphasis and views: I have an
entirely different view, and hence a very, very low opinion of Stallman's.
I have chosen my business as something I love doing, something which
creates value for myself, my employees, my customers, and my communities,
and something which is inherently worth doing. My computers, operating
systems, and applications are but /tools/ for my business, just like a
wrench, a desk, and a phone.
Switching businesses because the software I need does not exist in a Free
form is absurd... I pay for the wrench, the desk, the chair, and other
sundry items because that's fair: someone spent time and money in creating
them and they desire compensation for their efforts (probably for the same
reasons I put time and money into my business). When someone chooses to
spend time and money programming software which does what I need, and they
desire compensation for that, and I feel such compensation is warranted as
a fair market value, I pay them.
If no one writes such software, and I spend $100,000 on programming it for
my company, is there anything wrong with selling 1000 licenses at $100 each
to recover my cost, or even 200 licenses to make a profit and properly
support those customers? Are my new software customers not getting software
that cost 1000x that price? And if one of them writes a HOWTO on their
views and thoughts and ideas on using my software, should that HOWTO be
excluded from LDP just because the software costs money?
I think not.
Wanting to write Free software for all needs is wonderful, and a noble
ideal. Decrying non-Free software as evil, and making inflammatory remarks
about the guilt and horror of using any non-Free software, is IMNSHO not
only counterproductive but also foolish. And more importantly, whatever the
goals of the GNU project, they are not directly conducive to the goals of
the Linux Documentation Project. I would also note that nowhere in the
name, the Manifesto, or any other text I can find does the LDP state that
it sees any difference in documentation for X or Y software based on the
licensing terms of said software. The LDP says only, and I quote:
"The Linux Documentation Project is working on developing free, high
quality documentation for the GNU/Linux operating system. The overall goal
of the LDP is to collaborate in all of the issues of Linux documentation.
[...] We hope to establish a system of documentation for Linux that will be
easy to use and search. This includes the integration of the manual pages,
info docs, HOWTOs, and other documents. [...] LDP's goal is to create the
canonical set of free Linux documentation."
You wrote that, or at least you were the last to revise it on 18-Dec-2000.
Nowhere does it say "we exclude all documentation for proprietary,
commercial, or non-Free software" or anything vaguely similar to that.
>In general, the companies that sell the software should also document
>it. Volunteers shouldn't be doing it. Why wouldn't a volunteer prefer
>to document free software instead?
Who knows? Who cares? You and I may think that a volunteer would prefer to
eat goat cheese instead of Gouda, and ham instead of bacon. But what a
volunteer prefers to write about is not known to us, nor is it any of our
concern. It is only of the LDP's concern that the software is for the
GNU/Linux operating system, and that the documentation is Free, and that
the documentation is of good quality.
>The LDP should not become an organization that companies utilize for
>their own personal gain by coopting LDP to distribute their documentation
>for free and thus promote their non-free software.
I'll disagree again. LDP should ///continue to be/// an organization that
strives to provide Free, high-quality documentation for the GNU/Linux
operating system and application software that runs on that operating
system. I do not care who wrote that documentation or what it is they
document so long as the objectives of the LDP Manifesto and organization
are met.
--
Rodolfo J. Paiz
####@####.####
http://www.simpaticus.com
