<div dir="ltr">During our Russian Pirates Day we were distributing Ubuntu CDs among other things, and also legally free music/movies and so on...The idea was to get actively involved in sharing and show how good it is to other people...<br>
But of course all of that just accompanied normal rallies/demonstrations (although we've been prohibited to have mass actions in many cases).<br><br>Anyway, the details of what to do exactly may be left for the local parties to decide on their own. First and foremost, we need to decide on when will we do it and how will we coordinate it.<br>
<br><blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote"><pre>On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Andrew Robinson<br><a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:a.robinson@pirateparty.org.uk"><a.robinson@pirateparty.org.uk></a> wrote:<br>
</pre><blockquote type="cite"><pre><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>2009/11/11 Andrew Norton <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:ktetch@gmail.com"><ktetch@gmail.com></a>:<br></pre><blockquote type="cite">
<pre><span class="moz-txt-citetags">>> </span>What I don't get it giving out copies of Linux. For an Open Source<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">>> </span>movement, yes. But the use of linux does not actively match with any<br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">>> </span>of our policies.<br></pre></blockquote><pre><span class="moz-txt-citetags">></span><br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>I find Linux to be a very useful example of successful alternate<br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>business model that thrives because the unit cost of duplication is<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>zero.. especially in the context of IBM's heavy involvement in Linux.<br>
</pre></blockquote><pre><br>Which would be great in a seminar of business models, or during a<br>media interview, but it's hardly effective in a mass public arena,<br><br>If you have to explain that<br>a) this is a successful alternate business model that<br>
b) depends on a low cost of duplication that (either)<br>c1) is being threatened by opposition to our position (or)<br>c2) is supported by our policies<br>you've lost the follower. Too many steps means you've lost the<br>
immadiacy of the guesture.<br><br>And ther's still the problem that a lot of Linux isn't accessable to<br>the general public. I just took Ubuntu off my system, because it was<br>very hard to get anything done with it easily, and documentation was<br>
poor. I'm not exactly a computer lightweight either (I have emergency<br>copies of knoppix in my DVD bags though, just in case, but as a<br>mainstream OS it just doesn't work for me) but unlike most people here<br>
(it seems) I'm not a software guy (I'm a hardware/robotics guy that<br>has avoided writing code for almost 13 years) so it doesn't gell with<br>me.<br><br></pre><blockquote type="cite"><pre><span class="moz-txt-citetags">></span><br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>When asked by the mainstream media if I personally share files, I get<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>quite a few gasps when I say yes, and I then get to explain that I<br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>share the latest Ubuntu distro, and move on to talk about the whole<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>idea of adapting to new business models. I bring in the fact that IBM<br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>jumped the right way when typewriters were replaced by word<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>processors, and they have already jumped from paid software to free<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>software.<br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">></span><br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>This places whoever I'm arguing against in the position of not arguing<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>against a little-known political party's poistion, but against the<br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>position of one of the world's biggest and most successful companies.<br></pre></blockquote></blockquote><pre></pre><blockquote><br> And If you asked those people to name computer companies, I'm sure<br>
they won't say IBM (even though yes its the 28th biggest company by<br>Forbe's 09 listing, and the next company in their sector is Microsoft<br>at 49, siemons is at 35 and HP is at 36) they'll say Dell, or HP.<br>
Also, some of those 27 companies ahead of IBM include ExxonMobile<br>(exxonValdiz), JP Morgan Chase (didn't they sorta start this whole<br>banking collapse), AT&T (they're the ones that had been doing illegal<br>
wiretaps, and lobbied hard for retroactive immunity last year) Verizon<br>(likewise) and walmart (loves nothing more than illegal personal<br>searchs, and devestating whole local economies) Do we think all<br>decisions these companies make are equally good because they are also<br>
some of the world's biggest and most successful companies. And let's<br>not forget O/S2 when we talk about IBM and their 'good decisions'. IBM<br>also supplied Germany with computing machines in the late 30's aimed<br>
at making it easy to track down the Jewish population. So it may<br>backfire, as IBM has a history of making really BAD decisions as well.<br><br>These things can backfire.<br></blockquote><pre><br></pre><blockquote type="cite">
<pre><span class="moz-txt-citetags">></span><br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>- Andrew<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>____________________________________________________<br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Pirate Parties International - General Talk<br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net">pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net</a><br><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general">http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general</a><br>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">></span><br></pre></blockquote><pre></pre><br></div>