* Ted Smith teddks@gmail.com [2011-01-04 16:44:17 -0500]:
The FSFE's letter template is here: http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.en.html. With minor modifications it could easily be sent to any USAmerican government office (in fact, from my quick glance, all that'd be necessary is replacing the signature).
They also have a petition (http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition.en.html) that the FSF might want to distribute in the US.
IMO, it seems like the FSF taking these measures would help more than an individual FSFCT "member" emailing the FDA. Though that's obviously not going to do any harm either.
I'd be willing to do what I could to help the FSF make this happen -- would anyone else be as well?
I would be very happy if the PDFreaders campaign will be adopted by other organisations, so we get rid of non-free pdreader advertisment on government websites.
If you have any further questions about the campaign, I am happy to help you. Just contact me and the pdfreaders team on pdfreaders@lists.fsfe.org.
Regards, Matthias
The FSFE petition is very good. As for the letter, its approach seems a bit off, because it assumes the recipient will think it is improper to advertise any company. Can we count on that?
Anyway, it seems best for people to write their own letters and messages for this.
> IMO, it seems like the FSF taking these measures would help more than an > individual FSFCT "member" emailing the FDA.
I don't know whether a letter from the FSF would do more good than a letter from one of you. However, we're overloaded.
* Richard Stallman rms@gnu.org [2011-01-15 01:44:55 -0500]:
The FSFE petition is very good.
Does FSF want to sign the petition, too?
As for the letter, its approach seems a bit off, because it assumes the recipient will think it is improper to advertise any company. Can we count on that?
At least for websites of the public institutions in Europe it works quite well. Already over 10% replied that they agree with our arguments. For companies I would not use the letter in the existing form, but modify it a bit.
Regards, Matthias
> The FSFE petition is very good.
Does FSF want to sign the petition, too?
I did not realize that organizations like the FSF were invited to sign. Sure, please add our name.
> As for the letter, its approach seems > a bit off, because it assumes the recipient will think it is improper > to advertise any company. Can we count on that?
At least for websites of the public institutions in Europe it works quite well. Already over 10% replied that they agree with our arguments.
Maybe I'm right in expecting a negative reaction from US government institutions, or maybe I am just out of touch. It would be good to ask someone else in the US. Can you ask John Sullivan what he thinks about it?
On 01/17/2011 06:52 PM, Richard Stallman wrote:
> The FSFE petition is very good. Does FSF want to sign the petition, too?I did not realize that organizations like the FSF were invited to sign. Sure, please add our name.
Thanks. I've added the FSF on the list of signatories [1].
Best regards
Maëlle
[1] http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition
* Richard Stallman rms@gnu.org [2011-01-17 12:52:16 -0500]:
Maybe I'm right in expecting a negative reaction from US government institutions, or maybe I am just out of touch. It would be good to ask someone else in the US. Can you ask John Sullivan what he thinks about it?
Yes, I will.
Regards, Matthias
Hi John,
Richard asked me to get your assessment on the reaction of US public institutions to the PDFreaders letter http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.en.html.
* Richard Stallman rms@gnu.org [2011-01-17 12:52:16 -0500]:
> As for the letter, its approach seems > a bit off, because it assumes the recipient will think it is improper > to advertise any company. Can we count on that? At least for websites of the public institutions in Europe it works quite well. Already over 10% replied that they agree with our arguments.Maybe I'm right in expecting a negative reaction from US government institutions, or maybe I am just out of touch. It would be good to ask someone else in the US. Can you ask John Sullivan what he thinks about it?
What do you think about it for the US?
Regards, Matthias
Hi Matthias,
Matthias Kirschner mk@fsfe.org writes:
Hi John,
Richard asked me to get your assessment on the reaction of US public institutions to the PDFreaders letter http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.en.html.
Sorry for the delay in replying to this. I think the letter is reasonably appealing to a US audience. I do think it would benefit from also saying that it's both misleading and against the government's mission to make it appear as though people are *required* to use one particular company's product to access public information. That may be a more persuasive argument for people in the US than just the advertising by itself.
Also, talking about unfair "subsidies" is a popular way to criticize this type of behavior in the US. Something like, "Giving users the impression that they must download Adobe Acrobat in order to access your agency's information amounts to a government subsidy for Adobe."
Hello John,
* John Sullivan johns@fsf.org [2011-02-28 11:33:40 -0800]:
Richard asked me to get your assessment on the reaction of US public institutions to the PDFreaders letter http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.en.html.
Sorry for the delay in replying to this. I think the letter is reasonably appealing to a US audience. I do think it would benefit from also saying that it's both misleading and against the government's mission to make it appear as though people are *required* to use one particular company's product to access public information. That may be a more persuasive argument for people in the US than just the advertising by itself.
Ok, thanks. If we would prepare a short text how individuals can help to get rid of non-free advertisement worldwide, would you include that in your next newsletter?
Also, talking about unfair "subsidies" is a popular way to criticize this type of behavior in the US. Something like, "Giving users the impression that they must download Adobe Acrobat in order to access your agency's information amounts to a government subsidy for Adobe."
Yes, we will also follow up on those questions with politicians in some European parliaments.
Regards, Matthias