How to promote free software
Niall Douglas
ned at nedprod.com
Sun Dec 1 18:54:46 UTC 2002
On 1 Dec 2002 at 18:27, Alessandro Rubini wrote:
> > Very simply, it should say:
> >
> > Software Patents in Europe =
> > 1. Damage to the European Software Industry
> > 2. Damage to the European Economy
> > 3. Damage to European ability to compete internationally
> > 4. Damage to Europe's ability to innovate
>
> Yes, I agree Free Software should stay out of the picture. The damage
> exists independently of Free Software. Worse, talking of Free
> Software will reinforce someone's idea that we are a bunch of freaks
> that want to pirare intellectual property and oppose companies and
> innovation.
It's the "damned tree-hugging hippies" syndrome you get especially in
the US. If they identify you with some non-regarded stereotype, all
weight in your message will be lost even if it's of national
importance.
> I'm convinced that the problems you list go much farther than Free
> Software development, and most companies I speak with agree with me.
Those that are aware. I recently wrote a series of articles against
the European Copyright Directive for IT contractors in the UK and
virtually none of them knew a thing about the problem. It's really
one of ignorance.
Does the European parliament have something like
http://www.faxyourmp.com/?
Cheers,
Niall
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