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

MJ Ray mjr at phonecoop.coop
Wed Jun 23 19:34:48 UTC 2010


Matt Lee wrote:
> On 06/23/10 10:58, Matthias Kirschner wrote:
> >   “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. 
> 
> DRM and Windows 7 are attacks on user freedom, like software patents and
> proprietary file formats. It's not a negative thing to talk about these
> problems, and these campaigns are positive steps against a negative,
> designed to hopefully cancel it out.

To answer the first question, FSFe is *much* more positive and I think
that it's probably the influence of the rank and file which encourages
that, but thanks to FSFE's workers for acting on it.

In general, I feel it is a negative thing to talk about these problems...
but that's no bad thing, *as long as* we give people help with direct
positive actions that they can do to address them.  Does FSF do that?

For example Windows 7: my recent first encounter with it is described at
http://www.news.software.coop/samsung-n150-netbook-and-ubuntu-netbook-remix/940/
with a link to windows7sins.org but I found that site little help
myself.  Maybe I'm thick, but the long essay overwhelmed me and I'm
not installing Sugar on the netbook of an adult who works in an office.

What would help most on windows7sins.org is:

  1. obvious links to what you think I should be installing when faced
    with a Windows 7 machine (I contemplated debian, but installed
    Ubuntu Netbook Remix in the example, which is imperfect about
    freedom but infinitely better than Windows 7);

  2. links to what the current approach(es) to getting a Windows Refund
    is(/are), in general, not only Amazon;

  3. more social media than a signup box for an unspecified mailing list.

I feel that the essay-based approach and purity policy are two of the
biggest problems seen in FSF campaigns - and I boggle that anyone
posts that "the absence of similar antifeatures form some of the
easiest victories for free software".  Features do not sell and
antifeatures doubly do not sell.  We need to highlight benefits: "One
of the basics of selling is to sell on benefits rather than features."
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/sales/articles/features_benefits.htm
and lots and lots of texts and guides and courses.

But, however, the page is the usual Stallmanesque expressions-of-
opinions-cannot-be-improved verbatim/No Derivatives/non-free rubbish
"Gno you can't" licensing, with no links to its source code or
authors, so I wrote up my experiences, which I know have helped a few
people, and then gave up on the FSF site.

Until now.  Would FSF open windows7sins.org to the crowd, please?
Turn the "Gno you can't" into a "Gyes we can"?  It's not like it's
shown as the expressed opinion of any one author in particular!

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef)  Webmaster and LMS developer at     | software
www.software.coop http://mjr.towers.org.uk        |  .... co
IMO only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html |  .... op



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