On philosophy, hierarchy of orgs, definitions, and the logo

[Alex Hudson]

> In summary:
>
> o  The firm philosophical stance Georg wishes from FSFE
> members ought to be concerned with high, broad and long aims for
> humanity, and encompass more than software programs.

To what extent? To the extent of all things 'digital'? To the extent of
information, content, etc? Or beyond that?

> o  Encourage the creation of GNU sisters, under that broad
> philosophical umbrella of FSF(E), for music, books, video, and
> whatever else is webbable.

I think all that helps to do is muddy the waters a bit, really. Obviously,
FSFers are always going to have their own opinions, and most of the time
these opinions are probably going to be anti-patent, anti-this and
anti-that. I think the importance of Free Software is much greater than that
of Free Music, for example, and needs a separate emphasis.

> o  Keep implementation details like the GPL out of FSF(E).

I would argue stuff like the GPL is the ultimate expression of the
philosophy, and is very much the most important tenet ;)) Since the GPL is
the 'action' end of what the FSF does, it has to be the 'master template'
for the philosophy, in a way, actions speak louder than words, yadda yadda
:)

> o  For reasons I hope I've made clear, don't have a gnu on the
> FSFE logo.

I'm sure a lot of people would agree that the need for Free Software is not
equal to the need for a Free Unix. But, Free Unix is where things are at
right now, and you have to think about now as well as the future. By
concentrating on Free (not :) Unix, i.e. GNU, we're delivering on our
promises in the short term but not cutting off what can happen in the long
term.

Interesting thoughts though ;)

Cheers,

Alex.