Hello all I'm Justin "threethirty" O'Brien, I'm an Associate Member of the FSF, member of the EFF, and Member 0 of NumberedHumanIndustries a Free Software & Free Culture think-tank in Richmond, IN. I'm also the host of the LinuxCranks oggcast (the brand GNU show ;P ), a blogger, a contributor to the podcasts the Linux Link Tech Show, Hacker Public Radio, and TiT (TiT isn't Twit) Radio. I read about 100 blogs on a simi-regular basis, Listen to 30 or so ogg/podcasts. I'm also active on Identic.ca, twitter, facebook, google wave, pygowave, wakoopa, and 9 irc channels.
I really don't have a preference on what areas I should cover because I am often writing/talking about Free Software and Free Culture issues anyway, if there is some area that no one really wants to cover let me know and I'll try my hand at it.
I have read all three articles
* Words to avoid
* Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software
* The Free Software Definition
and will be going over them again in the weeks to come so I may come up with questions later.
Replies:
* "Linux is awesome for checking email and browsing the web."
I agree GNU+Linux is awesome for checking email and web browsing, but did you know you can also Video Chat, Instant Message, and edit video, audio, and images all with tools just as impressive as the email clients and web browsers? There are also office suites, 3d modelling applications, software development tools, DOD grade encryption tools, and even video games. All supplied in many distribution's repositories all without Digital Restrictions Management, and in a manner that respects you as a computer user and as a human being.
* "But make no mistake, if the real version 2 of the European Interoperability Framework is anything like the one discussed above, with its pathetically devalued definition of openness, and its espousal of the risible “openness continuum”, it will represent a huge setback for the use of free software in Europe, and a major boost for closed-source software producers and the patents they all-too often claim there - even though software cannot be patented “as such” in Europe."
I'm not sure that this does devalue the definition of "openness" because it really wasn't all that defined to begin with, but this would just trample all over users freedoms as described by the Free Software Definition (
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html). Version 2 will not only be bad for Free Software users, but Proprietary users as well.
* "When combined with the other chapters that include statutory damages, search and seizure powers for border guards, anti-camcording rules, and mandatory disclosure of personal information requirements, it is clear that there is no bigger intellectual property issue today than the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated behind closed doors this week in Korea."
At what point will everyone realize these two obvious truths, suing your customers (I assume that anyone who downloads movies also goes to the theatre or a rental place, I don't know anyone who solely relies on downloading for their consumption of movies) is a bad idea? The more you are treated like a criminal the more you act like a criminal. And treating your clientèle like crap is no way to run a business. And the second obvious truth, there is no feasible way to stop someone who is, as Cory Doctorow so eloquently put it, "time rich and money poor" especially if you give them the key, cypher text, and the plain text as they do in all of these DRM schemes. Giving someone the lock, key, and door, but not expecting them to put those 3 items together and walk in the house is crazy.