Re: Agenda for board meeting on November 3rd
Hi, I suggest you consider whether boycotting proprietary app stores is the really best way to advance free software, considering that 99% of users on such platforms will not install our free software unless it is available via the app stores. Michael ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Agenda for board meeting on November 3rd
> > I suspect that uploading to the app store also requires nonfree software, > > but I don't know for certain. > To the best of my knowledge it does not, though some effort is required > to avoid it. (See some of the recent discussion about the Android SDK > and its EULA, for instance.) It's possible that it requires proprietary > JavaScript; I have not personally tested that. Proprietary Javascript is what I suspect Google requires. However, this is a secondary issue -- the primary one is that the user must run nonfree software to install the app from there. Leading others to run nonfree software is more grave than using nonfree software yourself. > While I do think we should recommend fdroid.org as preferable and only > link to it (such as in links from the GNOME application and its > documentation), and avoid linking to a version in the Play store (e.g. > "To use the Foo feature, install the Foo application for Android, > available via https://f-droid.org/...";), that doesn't preclude making > the application available via the Google Play store for users who > already have that installed. That's true. The program's developers, or others, can put it in the Google store if they wish. My point is that the GNOME Foundation should not do so. -- Dr Richard Stallman President, Free Software Foundation (gnu.org, fsf.org) Internet Hall-of-Famer (internethalloffame.org) Skype: No way! See stallman.org/skype.html. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Agenda for board meeting on November 3rd
On Fri, Nov 06, 2015 at 04:40:35PM -0500, Richard Stallman wrote: > > > I suspect that uploading to the app store also requires nonfree > software, > > > but I don't know for certain. > > > To the best of my knowledge it does not, though some effort is required > > to avoid it. (See some of the recent discussion about the Android SDK > > and its EULA, for instance.) It's possible that it requires proprietary > > JavaScript; I have not personally tested that. > > Proprietary Javascript is what I suspect Google requires. > > However, this is a secondary issue -- the primary one is that the user > must run nonfree software to install the app from there. Leading > others to run nonfree software is more grave than using nonfree > software yourself. Agreed. I think it's important to make Free Software available for proprietary platforms as a bridge to draw people in; I have a personal fondness for that approach as it's the path I took myself (replacing most of my regularly-used apps on Windows with Free Software replacements that also ran on GNU/Linux, and then replacing Windows with Debian GNU/Linux). > > While I do think we should recommend fdroid.org as preferable and only > > link to it (such as in links from the GNOME application and its > > documentation), and avoid linking to a version in the Play store (e.g. > > "To use the Foo feature, install the Foo application for Android, > > available via https://f-droid.org/...";), that doesn't preclude making > > the application available via the Google Play store for users who > > already have that installed. > > That's true. The program's developers, or others, can put it in the > Google store if they wish. > > My point is that the GNOME Foundation should not do so. That seems like a reasonable point; I'm somewhat inclined to agree for a different reason, namely that the GNOME Foundation should on principle not be paying the entry fee for a proprietary app store, however small. :) That said, I do think it's reasonable for the description of the application *in* the Play store to reference GNOME, in the course of explaining that it works with a specific Free Software program, that the recommended place to obtain the app is f-droid, and providing links to GNOME. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Agenda for board meeting on November 3rd
On Fri, 2015-11-06 at 16:40 -0500, Richard Stallman wrote: > > > While I do think we should recommend fdroid.org as preferable and > only > > link to it (such as in links from the GNOME application and its > > documentation), and avoid linking to a version in the Play store > (e.g. > > "To use the Foo feature, install the Foo application for Android, > > available via https://f-droid.org/...";), that doesn't preclude > making > > the application available via the Google Play store for users who > > already have that installed. > > That's true. The program's developers, or others, can put it in the > Google store if they wish. > > My point is that the GNOME Foundation should not do so. I initially thought we should put the app in the store. Reading this last line, made me realize the distinction. I agree with Dr. Stallman. I really enjoy reading this list sometimes! Thanks! James @purpleidea signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list