Re: AM Report for Week Ending 23 Feb 2003
Martin Michlmayr <tbm@cyrius.com> wrote:
> [...] And yeah, asking the free beer question might sound a little silly,
> but otoh it shouldn't be a problem for you to answer it (and giving a
> quick but precise answer shouldn't require that much time).
Actually, I was surprised that an international project like Debian would
still ask such a question. My work advocating free software has shown the
free speech/free beer explanation to not work very well. I think this may
be a local matter, as we have no well-defined rights of free speech in the
UK, while it is enshrined in the US constitution. I'm sure we're not the
only country that it's true for, though. IMO, it would be better to strike
that question and ask something more directly about understanding of free
software.
Using analogues is fraught with difficulties: for example, some people have
thought that free software permits per-use charges, because you may have to
pay to use your "free speech" right on public access broadcast media. (It
doesn't, in case anyone is unsure.) I don't do this with mathematics, but I
explain the problems that inspired the method. Are there questions about
the history of free software in the NM process? I don't remember seeing
one, but it's been a long time...
In any case, I believe I had seen and answered all of these questions except
the BTS one before, either to you (tbm), (Ola? Did you ask me questions
too?) or my AM. Is there some communication problem going on in the AM <->
NM front desk <-> DAM chain?
I always have had to refer to the BTS manual when handling bugs, but that's
probably no bad thing to do anyway, to avoid goofs visible to Debian users.
--
MJR http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ IM: slef@jabber.at
This is my home web site. This for Jabber Messaging.
How's my writing? Let me know via any of my contact details.
Reply to: