Hi everybody,
---edit: This is quite a long mail. scroll down to the last paragraph for a short summary of this awfully long text---
I like the idea of this leaflet and the design is appealing. When I read the eight awkward restrictions a screwdriver would have if it was proprietary software I thought about a joke I once read. It's about Bill Gates insulting the automobile industry and how slowly they develop cars. He points out how cheap efficient and clean cars would be if they had developed as quickly as computers. Head of GeneralMotors replied that if cars would have actually developed like computers have, they would do many stupid things. Like asking "Do you really want the airbag to open", or obligating the driver to by additional seats (or a license fee for additional passengers) and so on.
From a personwhoknowsitswayaroundcomputers's point of view I was really
amused about this quarrel. And it made me think about how I promote free software and how a non-nerd person experiences software and the usage of computers.
Whenever I try to explain the limitations of proprietary software to somebody who barely knows how to write an email I only get weird looks and shrugs. People have no clue. These people by a preinstalled Windows PC and just go with it and completely accept the fact that there is no other operating system. They in fact believe that there is no such thing as an operating system. They believe there is just a computer and all the software is sort of built in and inseparably connected to the hard drive. And this of course is the same with all computers on the wide world.
Well it's kinda hard for me to explain how they think about it. But they give me the looks like (and that's a German proverb) a martin during a thunderstorm.
I would love to see the reaction of such people to this leaflet. Because I think that they would not start to care about free software. They are just so used to the ways they have been handling computers and they think they are satisfied. "Would I need such freedoms? My computer works just fine without them" they would say. I hope I'm wrong.
I sometimes get depressed when I try to promote something I really like. But people are just like "Nah; I'd rather use the live messenger for my video chat. I'm just so used to it and I know how it works. And I'm quite content with the computer as it is. Facebook runs just fine."
I'm sorry about all this personal gibberish. To sum it up: I would like to field test this leaflet especially with some hard cases and see how they react. And I'm hoping that I find a way to promote free software so that people start to care.
Best wishes,
Phil
Franz Gratzer wrote:
Hi people,
in the last months the fellowship group in Vienna was working on a leaflet which shall be used as an introduction into Free Software for people who didn't think about it so far at all.
We feel that our old leaflets are great for people to learn more about specific subjects, but are (sometimes) too heavy for complete newbies to the subject of Free Software.
Therefore we wanted to use an easy to grasp comparison explaining what freedom in the sense of Free Software really means and present it in a friendly accessible layout. We came up with tools.
The text basically tells what consequences it would have if tools would be as restricted as proprietary software and that there is no good reason to accept such absurd conditions.
Attached you can find the version of the leaflet our team in Vienna has agreed on. If you are happy with it and if the content gets approved from our European team as well we could share our SVG-files and do translations to get those folders for all local groups who want them. Since we didn't use any pre-fabricated material everything is free for improvements and adaptations. (I even checked with the FSF if we are allowed to use the book cover "Free Software Free Society" for this purpose on our leaflets.)
We worked on a black and white version for easy printing as well, but didn't get to a final draft there yet. (In my opinion a black and white version is very handy if you need more leaflets fast, but of course the coloured version is much more tempting for most people.) It has a different text and layout. Therefore it wouldn't look strange to have both leaflets at once on one booth. I'll send you our black and white draft as well as soon as we have developed it to a final version...
Best, Franz
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