[Fsf-india] What is the goal of FSF-India

[Raju Mathur]

>>>>> "KLAK" == Khuzaima A Lakdawala <klak@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in> writes:

    >> Is long-term success of free software a goal in itself?  If
    >> that is the case I have no more to say.  OTOH if the main goal
    >> is to improve peoples' lives through free software then, as I
    >> said earlier, sacrificing the present for the future is not an
    >> acceptable methodology.

    KLAK> On the contrary, sacrificing the future for short-term gains
    KLAK> in the present in unacceptable. We will look back and curse
    KLAK> ourselves for being short-sighted.

    KLAK> Any way, the above simple exchange proves beyond any doubt
    KLAK> that the two goals are incompatible and conflicting. One is
    KLAK> detrimental to the other.

I don't see how they're conflicting.  I have already stated that
people should learn to use free software because it's free, not
because of any other reason.  However you seem to be stating that even
encouraging people to start adopting free software by giving them any
reason apart from freedom is detrimental to the goals of the free
software movement.  You are projecting some mythical world where every
one is ideologically convinced about the benefits of freedom and hence
uses only free software, at which stage you will sit back and say that
your work is done.

Sorry, that world does not exist and will not ever exist.  If you can
give the 4 basic freedoms which RMS talks about to people today,
should you wait until they're ideologically convinced before you give
them those freedoms?  Is it a crime to give someone freedom even if
s/he does not appreciate the value of that freedom?  In the erstwhile
Soviet Union 99% of the people were not aware that you required
special permission to travel to and live in Moscow for any length of
time.  You seem to be saying that just because they weren't aware was
a good enough reason to keep the freedom of travel from them.

Please don't wait until your utopia becomes reality to start improving
peoples' lives qualitatively.  And don't forget that people, not
software, are important.  If I could eliminate hunger and sickness
from the world today at the cost of sacrificing free software and
every thing and organisation associated with it today, I wouldn't
hesitate to do it no matter how much it may hurt me on a personal
level.  The members of this list, on the other hand, are so caught up
in the goals of freedom and awareness that for them people become just
another factor in their plans and projections, and a very minor one at
that.

    KLAK> Now is a better time than ever for this list, and indeed for
    KLAK> FSF-I, to decide which one of the above paths it wants to
    KLAK> adopt. So that people who don't agree with the stated goal
    KLAK> can respectfully depart and carry on elsewhere. Otherwise
    KLAK> the two camps will be continuously bogged down in conflict
    KLAK> without getting any work done.

    KLAK> I know that not all FSF-I board members read this list but I
    KLAK> request, no, I *plead* with the ones who do to please take
    KLAK> this up on the board and come out with a clear policy
    KLAK> statement:

    KLAK>   What is the goal and purpose of FSF-I? To ensure the long
    KLAK> term adoption of free software and aim for the day when all
    KLAK> software will be free by educating people about software
    KLAK> freedom and convincing them that it is the freedom that
    KLAK> matters? Or, to propagate free software at any cost and my
    KLAK> any means in order to "improve peoples' lives through free
    KLAK> software" in the "present" even though such means may hurt,
    KLAK> or prove fatal to, the long term prospects of free software?

Let me ask another question in turn: if GNU/FSF make a completely free
operating system based on Hurd (say), will they require everyone to
fill out a form stating that they have understood the GPL and the
goals of the FSF before they can use it?

The goal is to improve peoples' lives, period.  If you can do it now,
you must do it now because none of us have seen the future.  The
possibility of converting dirt into nutritious, tasty and cheap food
tomorrow can never be a justification for not feeding a hungry man
today.

    KLAK> That's a clear question begging for a clear answer. So
    KLAK> please don't hedge the answer.

    KLAK> Thank you very much.

Regards,

-- Raju
-- 
Raju Mathur          raju@kandalaya.org           http://kandalaya.org/
                     It is the mind that moves