I'm just throwing out some of my ideas/opinions/perspectives here. Dunno how feasible or duplicating of other effort, or premature or risky or whether some are even appropriate for the new CLUE to do. I'm not sure that I'm just venting my frustration, or urgency about both the threat and the opportunity we are facing while in awe of its dimension. This is nothing less than revitalizing the IT industry and its relationship to the public.
As a personal intro, I've been using Linux since 1995 and doing software development on it almost exclusively since 1998, just in case I might come across to some people as a marketing fiend. I'm just tired of feeling on the fringe because most of the people I know have been following the pied piper of Redmond, and believe that changing that requires going beyond the technologic realm. 1) I'd like to see outreach to the business and government sectors along the line of a web site focussed on facilitating decision making by managers contemplating the use of GNU, Linux and related Open Source Software and Free Software. Besides introducing various concepts such as the GPL, LGPL, GNU, Linux, distributions of Linux, etc., it would pitch the benefits of going with Linux, and showcasing successful adoptions of Linux in different settings (the more the merrier). On it could also be things such as links to white papers and migration guides from vendors who have offerings that run on Linux, because of their domain expertise and focus have valuable contributions (albeit proprietary) to the further adoption of Linux in server, embedded and desktop spaces. I'd like to see special emphasis on emerging offerings (both open and proprietary) that attack positions held by convicted monopolists. I'd like to see this part hyped in the media as the "thin edge of the wedge", a focal point for a public campaign to wrest control of computing out of the hands of an entity more concerned with maintaining their market share at all costs. It could employ market segmentation much as the Dell site does, while acting sort of like a "chamber of commerce" for OSS. Ad revenue, if any, could be used to offset the costs of building, hosting and maintaining the site. 2) We need allies outside of the IT industry willing to go to bat for us. Aren't our desktops good enough yet for public use? I am very disappointed to see practically no general-public visibility of GNU and/or Linux around town (Toronto). Which computer retailers have GNOME or KDE running on at least one of their demo boxes? In the front window to catch the interest of passers-by? Show me a library or community centre where the staff know how to create a new account for a walk-in using Webmin. To which Internet cafe can I go and be given a choice of OS? This kind of access would make evangelization to non-geeks so much easier, and help to generate "buzz". Or do we wish to stay in the server room and inside the embedded device out of sight of most of the general public, let them continue to pay the "M****s*** tax" in exchange for no control and no accountability and probably no privacy as well. Because of budget cutbacks in many organizations, because the enemy is afraid of us, it is a good time to attack their stronghold before they have time to get DRM legislated, or whatever other countermeasures they may have up their sleeve. We could mount a volunteer program whereby in exchange for setting up their demo box, a business or non-profit would provide public access or visibility (depending on context), and feedback on things such as usability. 3) Of course, a lot of training resources would be required. Because of the IT meltdown, some of the training companies are probably pretty hungry for new business, and we could give it to them. If we could help prepare them for the Linux bandwagon, they could help us by increasing public exposure to Linux. 4) A survey of the major CBT vendors to determine how easy it would be to produce OS-agnostic CD_ROMs. We need to attack the public perception of inevitability of requiring Windows on many fronts. 5) Shareholder activism can exploit the financial advantages of mass deployment of Open Source Software in publicly held corporations. Likewise, appealing to governments to save licensing costs by switching to OSS is a good idea. To the Feds, emphasize balance of trade with the US as a bargaining chip. 6) Discourage software piracy. Encourage compliance with software licensing. Encourage people to compare the GPL with typical EULAs. (Evan Leibovitch's idea but I like it so much I'm putting it here). I'm very encouraged by the discussion that has cropped up in response to Bill's organizing efforts. -- Steve Harvey SGH Computer Systems [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
