From #ubuntu-us-ma: Jun 08 17:10:13 <leftyfb> Ubuntu LoCo's primary goal is to promote ubuntu .... think of it as Canonical's free, community-based advertising Jun 08 17:10:21 <leftyfb> it's not a FLOSS group Jun 08 17:10:26 <leftyfb> it's an ubuntu group Jun 08 17:11:31 <leftyfb> that's like telling a chevy corvette club they really should go around advocating and promoting honda and mercedes because otherwise they are doing a disservice to the rest of the automobile community Jun 08 17:12:21 <leftyfb> if you want a libreplanet/FLOSS group, make a libreplanet/FLOSS group and stop trying to convert another group into something it is not
Love ya Dan, but you're a bit off here -Tag On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 5:06 PM, Danny Piccirillo <danny.picciri...@ubuntu.com> wrote: > Please pass this on to discuss with your loco teams. > http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2010/06/why-ubuntu-locos-should-move-to.html > In the debate over whether it is worth supporting projects like Ubuntu which > are not purely free software, my opinion thus far remains that Ubuntu does > help further the free software movement. Arguments against this are welcome, > but that is a discussion for a future post. The reason that Ubuntu's local > community teams should move to LibrePlanet is because having one of the > worlds strongest FLOSS advocacy networks centered around one piece of > software and sponsored by one company is a disservice to the greater free > software community. > > I have been heavily involved in Ubuntu advocacy for years, but for a while > now, i've been considering the prospect of local teams operating independent > of Canonical. This would not be a move to abandon Ubuntu, but simply to open > up more possibilities and reach our full potential. Most people in LoCos are > not loyal to Ubuntu, but to free software (aka open source). We are united > by a set of ideals and work together to promote software which helps further > these ideals. Why then, must all of our advocacy revolve around one > GNU+Linux distribution? There are two main reasons for why it currently > does. > > Firstly, because Ubuntu is seen by most people as the best way to introduce > new people to a (mostly) free desktop environment. It is certainly much > easier to simply promote one operating system than a family of them. Still, > this is no reason to limit ourselves. A team not entirely exclusive to > Ubuntu can just as easily choose to promote Ubuntu exclusively for events > aimed at the general public. Ubuntu may be the best now, but if something > better came along or if Ubuntu went downhill, we should be able and ready to > adapt. Being an Ubuntu LoCo does not provide this flexibility. > > Secondly, because the infrastructure is there. Canonical provides a wiki and > mailing lists to their teams and in exchange, the teams work for them, > albeit loosely, as part of the Ubuntu LoCo project, under its name and > banner. Canonical also provides printed install discs to officially approved > teams, but there is no reason why Canonical should not provide sponsorship > to any team of people who will be promoting Ubuntu. It's mutually > beneficial. In the meantime, to continue receiving materials only provided > to officially approved teams, LoCo's can continue to operate alongside > LibrePlanet groups. This isn't all to say that Canincal has been working to > actively lock teams in, but this is the effect it now has. Creating the LoCo > project, providing the structure needed to establish global network of local > advocacy teams, was a great service, but the time has come to grow beyond > its current scope. > > LibrePlanet is inspired by Ubuntu's LoCo Project, but it's instead organized > around ideals, not any particular piece of software. Surely there are some > who only care about what tools work best, but let's not forget the ideals > which made these better tools possible. Most of us imagine a world where > these ideals are universal and see an incredible amount of potential in > that. LibrePlanet isn't yet another social group for GNU+Linux users, but a > team of activists. These groups are more open to users of any free software > who may be interested in advocacy. Sponsorship could come from Canonical, > Mozilla, or whoever. Isn't this much more in line with the nature of FLOSS? > > Being a LoCo does in many ways lock you in to promoting Ubuntu. You may > promote other software and welcome users of other distros, but by their very > title, LoCo teams exist for Ubuntu. The very reason i began taking this idea > seriously is because some non-Ubuntu users wanted to get involved with an > event organized by my local community team, but did not want to work under > an Ubuntu banner (literally). I don't blame them. I went on to discover many > people who lurk on our mailing list and even IRC channel simply hadn't > gotten involved because they were put off by the exclusive nature of the > group even though they do happen to use Ubuntu themselves. There is an > incredible network of people out there who want to help, and we shouldn't > box them out. > > Many people have some badly tainted perceptions of the FSF, but being a > LibrePlanet team does not require strict adherence to FSF rules. Teams could > work on would be creating a voice for free software that doesn't have the > (in my opinion mostly wrong) reputation of the FSF to be too extreme, and > this is coming from someone who often doesn't agree with their approach. To > provide an example and get the ball rolling, i'd like to announce > the LibrePlanet Massachusetts Team. > > Mailing > list: http://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-us-ma > IRC: #libreplanet-us-ma on FreeNode > >> The LibrePlanet Massachusetts Team is a group of volunteers and activists >> organized around furthering the ideals of free software and related issues >> concerning digital rights and free culture. >> >> This group is working towards a free society through free software, but >> we are not a local Free Software Foundation team. We share the same end >> goals as the FSF, but some of us may find it necessary and more effective to >> make some temporary compromises with proprietary software in order to better >> spread free software. Some of us may not necessarily say GNU+Linux or always >> say "free software" instead of "open source", and some of us may use >> pragmatic benefits to advocate free software with the understanding that >> freedom is the underlying concern and principle which makes it all possible. >> We are open to people of all levels of interest in free software and welcome >> new participants. We are all united in the fight for software freedom as an >> important and necessary means for the prospect of a free society. > > You can start your own LibrePlanet chapter > here: http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/Form:Group > > -- > .danny > > ☮♥Ⓐ - http://www.google.com/profiles/danny.piccirillo > Every (in)decision matters. > > -- > loco-contacts mailing list > loco-contacts@lists.ubuntu.com > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts > > -- #define sizeof(x) rand() :wq -- loco-contacts mailing list loco-contacts@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts
