Re: [gNewSense-users] Re: libre people

[Sam Geeraerts]

Yavor Doganov schreef:
> Sam Geeraerts wrote:
> > - a catchy acronym: GAP
>
> This acronym is already taken, so please don't use it.  In the mind of
> every GNUstep user GAP stands for "GNUstep Application Project" [1].
> It is in the process to become a GNU package, AFAIK.  GNUstep was the
> official GNU desktop (where "desktop" is something in the works...)
> before the inception of GNOME, and is even more important today when
> many people bow before Muck OS X.
>
> [1] http://gap.nongnu.org

I didn't know about that. Without wanting to downplay the importance of 
GNUstep, if we can't come up with anything else and this is what people 
like the most, how 'bad' would it be if we were to stick with GAP? E.g.:

- Do GNUstep users know about gNewSense (and so aren't our target audience)?
- Is GAP commonly used as an acronym within the GNUstep community?
- Is it well known by all GNUstep users, or just mostly the developers?

> > These put the focus back on gNewSense instead of freedom.
>
> Perhaps I miss the context of the discussion, but that looks wrong:
> the focus should always be on freedom.  In an ideal world, an effort
> and a distro like gNewSense should not exist -- every GNU distribution
> ought to be entirely free software like gNS.

Sadly, in the not so ideal world we live in, Joe Regular is a lot more 
responsive to products than to philosophies. The shift in focus would be 
from

Free software is important ... blah ... free as in freedom ... blah ... 
4 freedoms ... blah ... ethics ... blah ... divided ... blah ... 
helpless ... blah ... freedom of choice ... by the way, gNewSense is 
free software.

to

gNewSense is the best of what free software has to offer. Because it is 
free software, gNS ... blah ... free as in freedom ... blah ... gNS 
respects users ... blah ... 4 freedoms ... blah ... copy this gNS disc 
and give it to your friends ... blah ... gNS doesn't leave users divided 
and helpless ... blah ... shall I install it now or do you want to try 
the live CD?

So instead of trying to explain the abstract concept of free software 
(which usually just gives you blank stares) and then giving gNewSense as 
a possible option, we name and show gNewSense to keep Joe's attention 
while explaining why it matters. It's not that the focus would be less 
on freedom, it's just a more concrete way of explaining it.