“Gno” and “Gyes” campaigns - About positive Free Software campaigning

[Sergey Matveev]

Greetings,

On Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 04:58:19PM +0200, Matthias Kirschner wrote:

> I wrote a short blog entry with the title:
>   
>   “Gno” and “Gyes” campaigns - About positive Free Software campaigning
>   http://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=593
> 
> We always try to do positive campaigning. Do we achive that? I am
> intersted in your opinion. 

FSFE is achieving that perfectly! And, I fully agreed that campaigns
must be positive.

It is psychology -- nothing more. I am not good at it at all, but
even I know that parents will fail trying to explain their children
what is good and what is bad coming from negative side of that. I
do not know why, but nearly noone will listen you very good, if you
are saying that "do not do that -- it is bad anyway", etc. One should
(I think -- must) understand the problem by himself, understand that
it IS a problem, why it is a problem and how can it be solved.

Being some kind of free software activist (spreading free software
movement among others :-)) for several years, only the last year I
fully understand that position "hey, stop! do not use that! it is
closed, proprietary, and so on" will fail nearly all the time. People
are using software for ears without any problems, and someone came
and began to cry that it is bad and unacceptible. Better way, is to
say that there is something better. One should interest people. Anyone
can say that something is bad, but can everyone suggest an alternative
solution?

Being honest, I (being the member of FSF and of course looking after it
all the time, what does it do) am not satisfacted with it at all last
time.  I really do not like the idea of compaigns like Windows 7 Sins.
DefectiveByDesign is similar, but it has (as I remember exactly it :-))
several good movies describing DRM-related problems. Those campaigns
are only good and useful for advanced users, programers and hackers
mainly.  Some kind of brief consolidation of negative sides. But,
I am really impressed with the work of FSFE! Really, you guys are
doing the very right things with the very right way! Last time, news
from FSF are met by me with something like "yet another, yet again"
emotions. But, unlike FSF's FSFE ones are met with something like
"whoa! another great news!". FSF has the great treasure of course --
perfect speaker RMS, but unfortunately not their campaigns.

-- 
Happy hacking, Sergey Matveev
FSFE Fellow #1390 | FSF Associate member #5968