[pp.int.general] PPI GA Prague / Video Conference System for remote delegates

[Giulio Prisco]

Richard: "holding to ideals is absolutely necessary if the goal is to
realize those ideals.  I think it was Gandhi who said, "You must be
the change you hope to see in the world."

Not when holding to ideals at the wrong time or in the wrong way can
harm the ideals themselves. Insisting at all costs on a free software
solution which is still work in progress, buggy and evidently inferior
to available (and often free) proprietary solutions is a weak position
that can only push others away from the free software ideal. I have
done this mistake a couple of times in IT consulting projects, and at
the end the clients were persuaded that free software = bad software.
Is this what we want?
On Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 8:21 AM, Richard Stallman <rms at gnu.org> wrote:
>    audio+video system that shows the live streams from
>    not-on-site-attendants at the event is much preferred as it helps with the
>    feeling of cooperation and inclusion.
>
> If the party wants to be inclusive, it should not exclude idealistic
> free software supporters.
>
> This is not a matter of whether the Pirate Party should use free
> software, or campaign for free software.  You would have the Pirate
> Party campaign against free software and pressure people into using
> nonfree software.
>
>    (installing flash, using it and uninstalling it really isn't that big of
>    a deal. *Free Software is a vision not a religion.
>
> It is an ethical necessity.  Free software is the software that
> respects the users' freedom.  Some people will decline to participate
> in the event rather than surrender their freedom in order to
> participate.
>
> Others might decline to participate because they do not like the
> contemptuous attitude that sneers at people who hold to their
> principles.
>
> Others may violate their principles in order to participate, and in
> the process get used to violating principles.  The result will be
> a Pirate Party that doesn't stick to its principles.
>
>     Holding to your ideals
>    at all costs is counter productive. Be flexible.)*
>
> On the contrary, holding to ideals is absolutely necessary if the goal
> is to realize those ideals.  I think it was Gandhi who said, "You must
> be the change you hope to see in the world."
>
> --
> Dr Richard Stallman
> President, Free Software Foundation
> 51 Franklin St
> Boston MA 02110
> USA
> www.fsf.org  www.gnu.org
> Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
>  Use free telephony http://directory.fsf.org/category/tel/
> ____________________________________________________
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