[BadVista Advocate] Rek2's Post on LUGs and GNULUGs

[Ringo Kamens]

Ubuntu is owned by Canonical which is a for-profit corporation. While
this is probably only established to shield them from legal liability,
the fact that it is a corporation will inevitably cause it to go the
wrong direction if it gets too much power.
http://www.canonical.com/
Comrade Ringo Kamens
On 5/1/07, Sunnz <sunnzy at gmail.com> wrote:
> For all I know Ubuntu isn't a corporation of any kind, it is still
> personal funded by Mark Shuttleworth and it is an important "stepping
> stone" for people to switch.
>
> What we are facing isn't just a straight free replacement of Windows,
> but are promoting a free alternative that's different than what they
> had. It is not just the freedom/moral that we are introducing but a
> technically different beast that's GNU/Linux - and if people can't use
> it, or use it to its fullest, then that's too bad, it is also as
> _restriction_, albeit different restriction to DRM.
>
> And for that reason I would argue Ubuntu is a very important step in
> the course, it is very likely to work on a Windows computer so people
> can at least get their head around Linux learning its environment,
> etc.
>
> 2007/5/2, Lam YongXian <news at adolflam.com>:
> >
> > > I wanted to state my opinion on this issue. I recognize rek2's
> > > authority to make this decision and will therefore not oppose it but
> > > if the Binary Freedom community opposes it then a consensus vote will
> > > be made and the order overturned. My personal opinion, not the one of
> > > BinaryFreedom, is that any change that puts us in a freer position is
> > > good. I think that it's better for people to switch to non-free
> > > systems like Ubuntu and install proprietary drivers (like I am forced
> > > to do) than continue to use Vista because gnewsense doesn't work.
> > > While they are still sacrificing freedoms, they are regaining their
> > > self-determination which they did not have with Microsoft. We, as free
> > > software activists, regardless of our personal beliefs on whether
> > > systems like Ubuntu are truly free, should fearless promote such
> > > systems. I even would rather see somebody switch to Mac instead of
> > > stay with Windows because even then they are regaining
> > > self-determination. The danger with this is that as we switch people
> > > to not truly free operating systems like Ubuntu, they will gain power.
> > > Power corrupts. They are a corporation, and as a corporation have one
> > > responsibility: to demonstrate growth to their stockholders. They will
> > > no longer care about ethics or freedom and this isn't an attack on
> > > Ubuntu, it's developers, or the community but on the corporation. RMS
> > > didn't get where he is by compromising, but I believe that in some
> > > cases we must slowly gain our ground. One such organization that comes
> > > to mind is the IWW who in their constitution say they can't sacrifice
> > > their rights at all however there is an important distinction to make.
> > > We are not giving up our rights, but we are slowly retaking them. By
> > > switching somebody to Ubuntu we are regaining _some_ of our rights and
> > > as a result, I consider it not only better but to not be in
> > > contradictions with the aim of the FSF, Binary Freedom, and Rek2. I
> > > believe that all of these organizations are truly working towards the
> > > common good however sometimes we get sidetracked and I wanted to
> > > present this alternative way of viewing things if they had not been
> > > heard before. As of such, I will continue to present things like
> > > Ubuntu to people as options on this mailing list however I will not do
> > > so under the flag of Binary Freedom as long as Rek2's ruling stands.
> > > Respectfully Submitted,
> > > Comrade Ringo Kamens
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > Advocate at badvista.org
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> > >
> >
> > AN ANALOGY:
> > We just have to make sure people dun enter ubuntu and think that it is
> > already heaven, but later found that they are just 1 level above hell.
> > Make sure that they remember to continue climbing up, instead of staying
> > satisfied at the level-above-hell like what they used to in hell. That is
> > what happened some of to those at OSI.
> >
> > Some of us come from there, but we are definately not going stay there
> > forever. But it is somewhere we have to go through to reach here =)
> >
> > ---
> > Lam YongXian
> > Adolflam.com
> >
> > FSF member #5279
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Advocate at badvista.org
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> >
>
>
> --
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>
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