[pp.int.general] free software video streaming

[Richard Stallman]

    So the question boils down to supporting nonfree platforms, rather than
    forcing nonfree platforms. Which is perfectly legitimate to protest in
    itself. But if it is about supporting/using nonfree, where do you draw
    the line? At the software running on the camera? Will you give the 
    speech
    in a building that has proprietary software on its firealarm?

If there is any uncertainty about this, it did not come from me.

My condition for my speeches is simple and clear: don't distribute
them in patented formats or in ways that require the user to run
nonfree software in order to watch or listen.

It's not for me to tell the Pirate Party what to do
when it isn't a matter of an agreement about my talks.
However, the Pirate Party is based on principles, and the reasons
that I base my decisions on can be valid for the Pirate Party also.

My reason for rejecting patented formats is simple.  The patents on
these formats are a real practical problem because people use those
formats.  Thus, by promoting those formats with our own actions, we
push people onto the thorns of the patents.

Pirate Parties share my opposition to computing patents, and therefore
has a reason to reject those formats as I do.

My reason for rejecting the ways that require the user to run nonfree
software is that distributing in those ways makes a visible statement
that nonfree software is a good thing.

Many Pirate Parties promote free software, and nearly all Pirate
Parties condemn DRM, which is commonly found in nonfree software.
They have a reason to reject these formats as I do.

Above all, when fighting for a principled cause, you must set out as
you plan to arrive.  As Gandhi put it, "Be the change you wish to
achieve in the world."  (I may not have the words exactly right.)
This fight is likely to take many years, and if we get into a habit of
doing a certain thing "until we win", in effect that thing becomes
part of what we are fighting for.

See also http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/compromise.html.
-- 
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 Ekiga or an ordinary phone call