[gentoo-pr] Re: "stop software patents" banner

[gentoo-pr] Re: "stop software patents" banner

[Sven Vermeulen]

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On Mon, Jul 04, 2005 at 08:22:07PM +0100, Daniel Drake wrote:
> Could you please discuss this amongst yourselves, and if you agree it is a
> good idea, please read the following instructions so that we can join the
> demonstration against software patents on gentoo.org:
> 
> http://wiki.noepatents.eu.org/webdemo/

This has stirred up quite a lot of noise lately. We are here asked to check
out if it is in Gentoo's best interest to put out a public statement against
software patents and, if so, how we would make this statement (for instance
with a link on the front page).

I personally feel that Gentoo should have discussed this a lot sooner and
make a noted decision on the subject (noted so it can be used when the
discussion pops up again). The issue on software patents has been on the
European politic journal for quite some time now (a few years).

Putting up a public statement now, less than a day in advance of the
item being discussed in the European Parliament, would in my opinion have
zero effect. Yet staying silent on the matters doesn't do Gentoo any good
either.

In my opinion, the best course of action would be to draft an article where
Gentoo places its concerns on the software patent matters and how it could
effect Gentoo. The article would make clear /why/ Gentoo is against (or in
favor - not that this will be most likely) of the current Software Patent
Directive [1].

We can then publish this article on the Gentoo web site and, if necessary,
put a link on top of the main page to this article.

I personally do not like to put banners on our web site. For one, people are
tired of banners. It would imo be a lot cleaner to have a single link on top
of the main page that points to the article. It only takes a few characters
and doesn't interfere with the current site layout (which the banners,
frankly, do).

Wkr,
      Sven Vermeulen

[1] The article should not talk about "software patents" sensu lato but use
    an explicit, known public document (the directive as it currently
    stands) as the base for its content.

-- 
  Documentation project leader - Gentoo Foundation Trustee

  The Gentoo Project   <<< http://www.gentoo.org >>>

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Re: [gentoo-pr] Re: "stop software patents" banner

[Kurt Lieber]

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On Mon, Jul 04, 2005 at 09:32:48PM +0200 or thereabouts, Sven Vermeulen wrote:
> This has stirred up quite a lot of noise lately. We are here asked to check
> out if it is in Gentoo's best interest to put out a public statement against
> software patents and, if so, how we would make this statement (for instance
> with a link on the front page).

It has been discussed previously on the mailing lists.  I'm too lazy to
look up the old thread, but, as with most things Gentoo, nobody agreed on
anything and, at the end of the day, nothing was done.

My personal opinion: we have a hard enough time developing a high-quality
distribution that meets the needs of our users.  We don't need to go
meddling in politics, too.

--kurt

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