Everything but the ... // was Re: T-shirts

[MJ Ray]

Hello again Em.  Now to business.

E L Tonkin <py7elt at bath.ac.uk> writes:
> * what /are/ the short-term aims of the fsfe? Establishing GPL for each
> country, first? Then what?

That seems a noble aim which will probably take some time and
considerable effort.  Keeping it secure under the various legal
systems will probably become a major task.  FSFE should also be
watching our for issues about other Free Software licences and related
matters, not just GPL and its siblings.

This probably also answers about long-term aims and tracking laws
which hinder software freedoms.

> * Is the FSFE structure good enough? What's wrong with it? What do we need
> to fix? What about the sub-FSF chapters? Do geeks really fit into a
> hierarchy? (hint: no) 

Hah!  Not exactly a hint there, was it?  More a blatant spin.

Anyway, I think we should make some effort to organise ourselves into
a constituency as soon as is reasonable (nb: I do not say "possible").
Other FS bodies manage to organise themselves into democracies, so why
not us?  The finer details are up for discussion, of course.

> * Policy on finances, financial gain, industry freebies... 

Oooh, is this a can of worms I see before me?  Good luck to them, as
long as there's no conflict of interest and the elected terms are
reasonably short so that we can slap them back if they over-step the
mark.  The problem with many electoral systems is that it's too hard
to remove corrupt people without causing significant insecurity to the
elected officers.

[...]
> STILL don't have a version of GNU/Linux that installs and /does stuff/
> painlessly. Is that an FSF(E) problem? Do we care about Software For Your
> Average Idiot? or do we tell them to go hang?...

No, yes and only after the nth attempt at an unpaid support call.

> * What about community? Does the FSFE have interest in getting into
> establishing any LUG-style initiatives? 

Interesting question (and the next one about unionism).  FSFE should
open dialogues with any body of people who broadly share their aims, I
think.

> * To repeat myself once more, what about the whole damn woman issue? (And
> /be/ political, people, would you? This is a discussion list. If you
> think it's all a non-issue, say so)

Bah, do you want equality or reverse discrimination?  Personally, I
think any discrimination is a bad thing.  Yes, equality will take
longer to bring about equilibrium, but at least it will be true and
not about to see-saw *and* piss people off in the process.

> * What about stuff like legal defence, patents, all that? Does the
> FSFE get into all that? How much?

Yes, as much as it can afford.

> * How about stuff like DVD regionality, and blah?

This isn't really FSFE beyond the freedom of the decoder software once
legally created.  Does anyone know of EFF-like bodies in Europe?

-- 
MJR