Hi Paul,
Paul Boddie <p...@boddie.org.uk> writes: > Many of us commit to using Free Software exclusively where the right > to exercise this control has been given to us. Actively using and > developing such software is just as important as promoting it, > arguably more so. If I were to use proprietary software to advocate > Free Software usage, it might be said that I would merely be indulging > in a hobby, that I do not lead by example, and so on. I am such a person that is very strict about using only Free Software when it comes to my computing. There are areas where I feel it can be benefitial for an organization to be present on social media, even if that means using non-free Javascript for example. I think Richard Stallman as the founder of our movement recognizes that reaching people can be very important. For example, in the Rapid Responders team of the FSF, he sent links to sites that required non-free Javascript to post comments. When we pointed that problem out to him (he may not have been aware of the requirement), he said he would never ask anyone to run non-free software, but if there was someone in the group that did not mind, then posting a comment would be helpful to our movement. So I would say when it comes to communicating to people we would not otherwise reach, we have to carefully analyze the situation and make a decision. So there may be cases that are not quite clear cut. That being said, I would support an inventory of software we use under the right circumstances. If we were to do that, we would need a clear scope and volunteer time to actually maintain the inventory. Staff time is very limited and precious and I would not want it spent on an inventory that may not be all that interesting. From what I have seen personally, the FSFE staff uses Free Software exclusively, but there are probably devices that require non-free firmware. When it comes to printers and networking devices, there is probably more non-free software on those devices, but I am not sure how much of it could be updated. If it cannot be changed, it could be considered hardware. But that brings up the question of scope again. Happy hacking! Florian _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion@lists.fsfe.org https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion This mailing list is covered by the FSFE's Code of Conduct. All participants are kindly asked to be excellent to each other: https://fsfe.org/about/codeofconduct