[sf-lug] "Educating Tux: case studies of Linux deployments in high schools around the world"

[Christian Einfeldt]

hi

On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:

>
> If you go out of your way to refer to a machine as a "_FOSS_ box"[1],
> when people find out that at least one major component


That "major" component comprises 0.2% of the install, as I demonstrated
before.


> is -- in fact --
> proprietary software, they'll rightfully consider your terminology more
> than a bit dishonest, and wonder what _else_ you're deliberately
> stretching the truth about.  Thus my point.


No, there is no one else here but you, Rick, who thinks that I am being
dishonest, AFAIK.  Everyone knows that I giving out Ubuntu boxes with Flash
on it.  In fact, Rick, you helped install Ubuntu on these boxes, and you
have referred to these boxes as open source before, unless you are saying
that you showed up at the March 1 installfest for the purpose of installing
proprietary software.

Also, when I give boxes to newbies, I talk with them about Richard's four
freedoms.  If I were not giving them that box, they would never sit still to
listen Richard's four freedoms, because for the most part, they don't care.
They just want to do stuff with the boxes.  Getting them to care about
freedom takes a lot of work, and it takes a measure of compromise.


> When I install and use proprietary software on Linux, FreeBSD, or
> Solaris boxes, I don't attempt to con listeners by going out of my way
> to claim the computers are "open source".


I have never made the claim that these boxes are gNewSense only.


> (By the way, what other proprietary software _do_ you include on such
> boxes?  You ducked my question about that, earlier.  Do you even _know_?)
>

I have added no non-Free software to the boxes that you helped build on
March 1 other than Adobe Flash.


> [1] For reasons previously mentioned, of it being an excellent example
> of wilfully incompetent marketing, I personally eschew the term "FOSS".
>

FOSS saves keystrokes, Rick.

I have great respect for you, Rick, but IMHO you should please respect the
fact that you and I will disagree about this topic.  If a box has 99% Free
Software, it is accurate to refer to it as a FOSS box, at least with
newbies.  And no one on this list was mislead.  Everyone here knows that I
am installing Flash on these boxes, and most of the people here on the San
Francisco _Linux_ Users Group uses a wee bit of non-Free software here and
there.  And we all support a move to greater freedom.
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