>> (b) Does MS' presence at LA >> contribute to that focus or detract from it > > contributes
+1. By actually spending a lot of money on LinuxAsia, Microsoft has publicly acknowledged that fact that F/OSS is a force to be contend with. This wasn't the case sometime back; and therefore, this is a welcome change. > the only question being asked here is 'should the community > participate in conferences where microsoft is a sponsor' - and if it > does, how does the community benefit? I don't see how community involvement in a M$ sponsored could actually be harmful in any way; but then again I don't see any major benefits either. Another point I want to put across is that all this trouble is only trouble if you think convincing lots of people to switch over to F/OSS is the primary goal of any such event. IMHO, this must not be the case. Like I've said before, the community shouldn't care a lot about evangelism, but more towards helping those who have _already_ made the decision to switch to F/OSS. As an individual of the F/OSS community, I really don't care if all the CEOs of top companies all over India got the wrong idea about F/OSS. I also don't care if M$ or whoever is sponsoring the event. All I care about is whether I can help those who attend my talk or tutorial or whatever. Really, you start losing sleep the day you start trying to convince other people to use F/OSS. If you're happy with what you have, and are happy to help others who are like-minded; then that's the real community. After all, no community has a "marketing" department! -- Anant _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
