3rd Fellowship Raffle to attract more Fellows

Alfred M. Szmidt ams at gnu.org
Tue Mar 13 23:12:36 UTC 2007


   Secondly, there are many interviews and reports which say RMS used
   to recommend Debian (try a web search... for one example result,
   http://beust.com/stallman.html).  However, I know reporters
   sometimes make mistakes and it's not impossible that there could be
   so many.

What a great example, nothing in that actually quotes RMS.

   > [...] it is another
   > thing that a organisation or even a person, supposedly promoting free
   > software, starts distributing non-free software to its members/friends
   [...]

   It was some time ago that FSF started distributing non-free-software
   manuals to people. 

Manuals aren't software to begin with.

   I also expect that FSF has often distribued machines to developers
   that currently require non-free software, in the hope that it helps
   to develop free software for them.  I don't see a fundamental
   problem in that, but maybe including such development platforms as
   raffle prizes is a bit silly, and maybe the swpat-fans Nokia have
   made a platform which will never be free.

You expect, and guess, and assume quite alot about the GNU Project and
the FSF.

   Conversely, maybe it's time for those who want to work on replacing
   non-free software to join the debian project, who don't
   *distribute* non-free software but merely host it and are actively
   working to free or replace it.

Debian clearly is not working to replace any of its non-free parts
that are part of Debian.  Debian still has a non-free Java system
despite there being free ones.  Debian still has a plethora of
non-free software that they distribute and recommend to its users.

If you want to support free software, support Gnewsense, or UTUTO-e.



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