1) Send us a quick introduction. What blogs, news sites, or communities do you follow? Are there particular news topics that you would like to focus on?
My name is Marcel Ribeiro Dantas, also known as vuln, a brazilian free software activist, developer and translator, who studies Computer Engineering with habilitation in Industrial Automation at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN).
I have a
blog, where I use to post my personal views about free software and other computer related subjects in some languages like Brazilian Portuguese, English and Spanish. I'm a speaker having already spoken about free software in several events with the following subjects for example:
"Free Software: The essence of the movement", "Free Software: Versatility, Productivity and Security" and "GNU+Linux: Strong GNU (arm), friendly Linux (hand). Is there Collaborative Platform?"
There is no specific subject I would like to focus on, seen that I like all the free software concepts. I use Ubuntu and Slackware in my machines, and I'm use to read national blogs and some international like SlashDot and other. Anything else you might want know about me, can be found in my blog address:
http://www.ribeirodantas.com.br/blog
2) Let us know that you've read these five articles about the FSF's basic philosophy and common mistakes that people make. Please ask any questions you have about them (questions are good!).
Surely I've read these documents as my basis for speaking about the subject in my lectures, and to spread the free software concept properly.
3) Write some short responses to these excerpts below, as if you were
responding with a short comment to somebody's blog post. These are
representative of the sort of things we often find ourselves
responding to. Be polite, concise, and -- most of all -- make sure you
hit the most important points.
This will give us an idea of your writing style, and it gives FSF
staff and other volunteers on the list a chance to offer feedback and
show you the ropes.
* Excerpt: Richard Stallman started the FSF in order to promote
open source software like the Linux operating system, as an
alternative to expensive software like Windows.
I don't believe it was RMS major goal. Nor the software price or even the Linux kernel, which at first wasn't gpl licensed or even free software. Stallman's goal was to promote a free (as in freedom) operating system as an alternative to the proprietary ones of that time which were forcing YOU to sign licenses saying that you couldn't share or read the source code, what sounded bullshit for him. With this goal he created GNU Project and later FSF as legal foundation for GNU Project.
* Excerpt: Now with cloud computing and web-based applications,
even Linux users can use the same software as everyone else, through
their browsers. With other popular programs like Skype and Adobe Flash
producing Linux versions, the Linux desktop may finally be catching
on!
At first, I would like to avoid the "Linux users" term, once I don't believe it would be viable to a user run just a kernel in her/his computer. Cloud Computing would not help free software goal, which is to provide a safe and free environment. If the cloud computing web-based application is not AGPL licensed, it should be avoid because it's not reliable nor free.