Excellent topic; thank you for bringing it up.


Avoiding negative language will help us become BETTER ambassadors of FOSS. Negative language creates negative feelings about us!

We can simply take lessons from other industries facing the same problem. For example, let's see the language of small "natural cosmetics" when they try to fight against "synthetic" dominant competitors. They keep on pointing out what they do better, to the Customers benefit: "no parabens, no additives, no chemicals, only natural ingredients" etc. They do not name or imply their competitor. They just repeat what is "better for you" and "does not harm you".


So, to come back to software: we could use strong laconic statements, such as: "Debian sends no telemetry reports". It is true, everybody understands it and it is not aggressive.

Persistence and patience are necessary, too. People need time to contemplate and then change; they cannot change overnight.

Is it possible to make a "collection" of nice, positive statements about FOSS and then distribute them to all members? I thing that some of us, including me, would need some help, in "expressing in a positive way"!
 
KR
Ioli
On 26/7/2017 1:14 μμ, Daniel Pocock wrote:
This was raised by Jonas in the thread about proprietary software, but
it is a completely different topic, so I'm starting this thread about
it: "we also don't do negative campaigning overall. We tell people they
should use Free Software; we don't tell them what software they should
not be using."

The reality is, many sites and software vendors deceive users with a
promise of security.  E.g. when a user accesses Gmail, they see the
padlock icon in their browser, so doesn't that mean Gmail is secure?  If
Gmail is secure and free software is secure, the user may ask why make
the effort to change to free software?

Is it negative to say, for example, "Debian doesn't send 10,000
telemetry reports per day" and hope the user realizes we are comparing
to Microsoft Windows 10?

If I was in somebody's house and I saw their kitchen had caught fire,
should I avoid talking about it because it is a negative topic and they
might feel bad?  Or should I warn somebody?

What about a hidden risk that most people can't see, for example, if you
were an official who knew about the contamination[1] in the water in
Flint, Michigan, should you keep your mouth shut?  Or would people thank
you for sharing negative information?

It would be really interesting to hear perspectives people have about
how to introduce threats without appearing to be negative.  For example,
what narrative do we need to use to give proprietary software the same
urgency as a burning kitchen or contaminated water?

Regards,

Daniel


1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis
_______________________________________________
Discussion mailing list
Discussion@lists.fsfe.org
https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion

--
Ioli PAPADOPOULOU
Business Development Manager
SophiMail linkedin www.sophimail.com
(+357) 2200 8298
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!
SophiMail Premium Business Email
Confidentiality Warning - Disclaimer: This e-mail contains information intended only for the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential material. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, any dissemination, copying or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this e-mail is strictly prohibited. The sender bears no responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or computer system that may occur while using data contained in, or transmitted with, this e-mail. If you received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by return e-mail and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed are personal unless otherwise stated.