Re: [GNU-linux-libre] Request for Endorsement for ConnochaetOS

[Henry Jensen]

Hi Ruben,

On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:03:34 +0200
Rubén Rodríguez <address@hidden> wrote:

> Even if you found individuals involved with the FSFE who believe that
> Free Software and Open Source are the same movements, that is not the
> FSFE position: http://fsfe.org/documents/whyfs.html
> 
> You may also find people involved with the FSF who think like that,
> anyone can be wrong. But finding many people being wrong never was a
> good argument anyway. ;)

The document you linked is not necessarily a contradiction. It merely
says that the term "free software" is preferable to "open source".

The persons I spoke and wrote to are not just anyone within the FSFE,
it was, amongst others, the Fellowship Coordinator and the Coordinator
of the German team of the FSFE, so I must account his statements as
official statements of the FSFE. I spoke to him at a conference about
this issue and discussed it with him at the german FSFE mailing list,
see
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/fsfe-de/2010-December/002883.html
(in german, partly english translation as follows):

"Richard [Stallman], as I saw it, didn't speak about two different
communities in the last time. The FSFE didn't do it. Free Software and
Open Source are terms for the one and same thing. We use the term free
software, http://www.fsfe.org/campaigns/whyfs/whyfs.de.html, but we
don't see people who use other terms outside our community"

"The FSFE recommends to think yourself. Use [the term] free software or
open source, whatever you think is better. [...] we don't dictate
strategies. If someone thinks that he can explain free software better
with the term open source then he should do it."

Again, he speaks as "we, the FSFE", thus as an official FSFE
representative. And, what's more, there were no objection on the list
to his view, besides my own.

I pointed him to the document at
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html. He
suggested, that this document is outdated, implying that it is not
valid any more.

Partly translation from 
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/fsfe-de/2010-December/002887.html

"If I remember correctly the main part of it is from 2007.
Unfortunately I can't find a more current interview in which Richard
speaks about two different communities."

As I have explained, I see the issue the same way as Jason, I only
wanted to point out, that there are different views about it in the free
software community. In the FSF the "two-different-communtities" view is
dominant, in the FSFE it is the "two-terms-but-same-thing" view.
Anyway, I think this discussion is a little off-topic on this list.

Regards,

Henry