[Fsfe-uk] Re: charity disappointmnet

[Ramanan Selvaratnam]

On Ţ¡Æý 06 Á¡º¢ 2003 1:55 À¢À, Nic Ferrier wrote:

> I'm not a member yet (I've been too busy to send in my form) but the
> news about charitable status is very disappointing.

I am member who somehow found he time and I am very annoyed about this!

Not that I want AFFS to be such a recognised body instead at the prevailing 
ignorance among crucial public officials.

I fully agree that there are 'pluses' like what Jason pointed out in another 
mail. Also another bunch of bureaucrats to save small amounts of money can 
cause headaches.

But one minus I will point out is that the charity commision officials risk 
being in the dark about free software thinking it is something to do with 
freeware, crackers and similar in modes of ignorance.

Lets remember that many impoverished organisations expect to save money by 
approaching them and it could be a vital information point.
If they change their decision we could ask them to educate their staff 
(especially the outrech workers) on software related matters.

Let me explain further by an example (this is true)
I know they have voluntary outreach workers who go out of the way to lecture 
about good governance and give out glossy folders.
I know this because once I got dragged into a neighbourhood IT project that 
turned out to be a clear political scam. If you need more info on the scam 
please ask offlist.
The charity commision official was all enthusiastic about getting it started 
by conducting a seminar in a 4 start hotel. At a point where everyone present 
had to introduce themselves (this is going back two years) I seemed to talk 
to myself when I mentioned free software and how it could really provide an 
everlasting solution. 
But when one of gathered 'IT sharks' proposed teaching Powerpoint for grannies 
the charity commision official was quick to point out that we could save 
money on licences and all -- by being a registered charity.
Hope you see my point -- they do work outside their assigned scope of 
operation. At htat point even if he mentioned that I have heard this free 
thing before I would have pursued the matter.

Being totally positive and leaving the charity commision outside the eventual 
scam that project turned out to be, it will be good to get some visibility 
for free software and its merits by campaigning to be recognised as a 
charity.

I always thought that is the *main* point about FSF, FSFE etc. spending time 
with instituitions like UNESCO.
<http://www.unesco.org/webworld/portal_freesoft/index.shtml>

>
> I would have thought that the AFFS was a perfect candidate for
> charitable status, it exists purely to promote the benefits of free
> software; doesn't it?

I got  a headache trying to read the Charity Commision.
I suspect there might be something for AFFS with some aspects of their 
positive decision  on Internet Content Rating Association

<http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registration/issueguide.asp>
' The PDF Document dated 10th December 2002 ' 

Browsing through the conclusion of another example it seems they recomend 
changes too!. 

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Ramanan