Hi all,
While this interested nobody intended to remain lurking on the
sidelines of this debate, recent comments have spurred me to open a
window and contribute my two cents to the conversation. Hope you
don't mind.
Firstly, Evan I think I agree with you on the Non-Profit vs charity
point. NPs would seem to offer more organizational flexibility and
we need that. But there are different kinds of NPs. We need to be
clear, from the outset, as to what kind of Non-Profit CLUE would be.
I would suggest that we have to define ourselves as an ethics first
organization. By this I mean we should be vendor-neutral, inclusive
of all licences, and non-commercial in our purpose and objectives.
As a true NP, it should not be CLUEs role to speak for business.
Business can and does speak for itself. It's interests are very
different from those of the free software community. If money talks,
I would be quite concerned as to whose message is being voiced. By
defining our principles up front, we specify our message prior to
accepting contributions. Those who contribute will know, in advance,
what to expect from CLUE. As examples of similar organizations, I
would point to the Bar, the CMA, the CGA, etc. - professional
organizations.
A large part of the corporate community is anti-ethical. Just look
around and ask how many vendors are pro-GNU. Given the choice of
making a sale or doing the right thing most corporate interests
choose profits over ethics. We need to put ethics before profits.
They are not incompatible nor need they be seen to be. Linux can be
both a better way of doing software as well as a better way of doing
business.
We do not want to position ourselves as 'The New Monopoly'. We are
not trying to clone Snow White or The Evil Empire here. We are much
more than 'The Next Big Thing'. Some business interests however, can
think of nothing better. Talk monopoly and they drool. We want to
steer clear of these people and their corrupting zeal for profit.
And the time is right. The selloramma is over. The vision of an
information economy, the adventure of the internet, the dream of a
global infosphere have all been done. Those days will not come
again, regardless of what certain interests would like. Their's is a
vision of the past.
The door is open to Linux. Linux ought to be the cure for Klondike
Fever - not the carrier of a new strain of the disease. Free
software is about bits and brains not bits and bucks. The fact is
that bubbles burst. The current depression in high tech is the
result of such a collapse. The accounting scandals are another
consquence of the get-rich-quick mindset. Such lack of integrity
produces a loss of investor confidence. Anyone can see that these
things are not good for business. And Linux is here for the long
haul.
By being different Linux can position itself as the antidote and the
vaacine for the disease. I think intelligent business is looking for
new paradynes. The oppurtunity is ours to squander or grasp as we
see fit. Let's not try and reprise Microsoft. Let's put ethics
first. Let's do it right this time.
Just my two cents worth - hope it helps,
bill
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