dear raj,
at last the oracle has spoken, if you excuse the borrowed phrase from the
matrix, and the IT-industry pun.
thanks raj, for your response, and for your epigrammatic statements.
i fully agree with you that the issue of quality, FLOSS, FBS, choice, and the
implicit innovations, opportunities, freedoms, healthier market dynamics they
foster are the real, larger, more positive issues at hand.
these are the issues we are really focussing on, deep down.
with a touching dose of reality, you also mention no matter how reasonable
the proposal, it may never see the light of day.
true. but mooting the idea, discussing and fine tuning it, and finally
proposing it to the FM and other people is the maximum extent of our
endeavour.
whether it happens or not, is to the lords and masters up there who pull all
the strings.
what has given me, and is giving me, considerable joy and stimulation is the
high-energy discussion that linux-delhi has jumped into, with respect to the
issues of freedom in software, and a deeper look into the ethics, economics,
dynamic forces, at work in the software industry.
i can bet that many on the lists may realize that software and technology is
not about software and technology, that its adoption and growth is based on
much different forces. that the techie must take a more holistic approach
towards software and technology. that we must not allow our love of
technology to be abused by others.
and all this demands a more deeper and fundamental understanding about the
concepts and visions that drive freedom, and non-freedom based software.
so that whatever technical and technological decisions we take, are taken
with full awareness and responsibility, and not ignorance and deliberate
irresponsibility.
freedom based software:-
will it form the basis of the economies, politics, businesses, individual
initiatives, world cultural heritage, of this millennium?
can the IT industry be transformed for the new generation without the follies
and the ills of the last one hundred years of IT (yes, IT is more than 100
years old)?
Can the promise and allure of wealth that the IT industry can generate be
finally unleashed to benefit me and my neighbours?
will we move away from morally bankrupt individuals and companies hoarding
wealth, to the true creation of wealth: both the wealth of money, and the
wealth of knowledge, through the single, strong idea of sharing?
to me, the journey is the reward.
:-)
LL
================================================
To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe in subject header.
Check archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd%40wpaa.org
