> > So what should we do about it? > > a) Put a note in the README and somewhere on the web site that netscape > > before v.7 may have problems with the web interface > > b) change the background > > c) go back to GIFs (potential patent issues, as well as being > > fractionally larger) > >We have to resist the temptation to use Freenet to make political >points.
This is rather funny, coming from the man who, when asked why he started the Freenet project, said, "In terms of the ideological reason, I believe in total freedom of information," and wrote the software to "force the issue." Freenet *is* politics. No one's asking anyone to put "We Support Bush" on the gateway page. This is a fundamentally different issue. "I think that if you do believe in total freedom of information, you can't have half measures." You either have it or you don't, and the patent issues mean that GIF *doesn't* have it. No matter how remote the possibility that these patent issues will affect the Freenet project (it's not true that encoders and decoders are the patent holders' only available targets) the political and ethical issues must be recognized. >It is amuzing when people assume that just because someone agrees with >them on one particular issue, they agree with them on others. I can't >tell you how many people of one particular persuasion or another believe >that I support their views just because they agree with me about freedom >of communication. In this case these are one and the same issues. Freedom of communication means that intellectual products cannot be treated like property. As one Freenet user, I really hope that the ultimate decision is *against* option c). As for the other two, I think usability concerns lean towards b). a) wouldn't matter much: I doubt the average political dissident is concerned too much about how pretty the graphics look in his or her browser. But then again, the average political dissident is not the only Freenet user. I suppose it's a tradeoff. The node and fproxy should be as spartan as possible, but not to the point of absurdity. Do you change the graphics to support older and obsolete browsers to support the few out there who still use them? Or do you say "Get with the program"? (So to speak.) -Todd _______________________________________________ devl mailing list devl at freenetproject.org http://hawk.freenetproject.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/devl
