How to promote free software

Richard Stallman rms at gnu.org
Tue Dec 3 14:57:32 UTC 2002


    3. They keep wandering about profits, protecting intellectual nonsense and the
    small man. 

They seem to understand when I explain these issues.

To show how software patents are harmful, I compare them to musical
idea patents and explain how they would have stopped Beethoven from
writing symphonies.  To refute the "protect the small inventor" myth I
explain how IBM would force him to cross-license and then compete with
him all the same.

Can you find read any transcripts of how I say these things?
Those transcripts might give you an idea of how to do it effectively.

    In short software is alien to most politicians. And free software is for them
    something like freeware or something very confusing. 

Are you talking to them about software patents
or are you talking to them about free software?
These are different issues and you should not mix them up.



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