[PLUG] [private mail] Friction source misidentified was [Re: Kudos to Michael]

[Richard Owlett]

Recent posts remind me of a portion of a high school journalism 
course of 50+ years ago - [pitfalls in headline writing ;].

Would you have recieved less static if original subject line 
resembled:
                Open Source and Hardware - A Case Study (AK-47)

Now if SW MO was days closer to Portland ;/



Michael Dexter wrote:
> On 8/9/14 10:42 AM, Bill Kielhorn wrote:
>> Lucky for Michael, he now has a variety of opinions
>> concerning AK-47 talks.
>
> Every announcement includes:
>
> Why: The pursuit of technology freedom
>
> Having overseen the first and only construction of the OGD1 ( Open
> Graphics Device http://linuxfund.org/projects/ogd1/ ) back when OpenMoko
> was exciting and long before Raspberry Pi's and countless new "open"
> devices, I will assert that I know something about "open hardware" and
> its challenges from both a technical and licensing perspective. The
> "maker" community has been brought up and yes, they have a very natural
> sense of "sharing" their work but your average participant is not aware
> that the software freedom crowd has spent decades refining the licenses
> they apply to their shared work. See: opensource.org (and recall the
> shirt I handed out).
>
> That said, the fact that the design of the AK-47 is de facto in the
> public domain and that its resulting objects are statistically
> significant, it is safe to say that the AK-47 just may be the most
> successful open hardware project human history and we had one of the
> most-researched authorities to talk about it (considering that they know
> more about BATFE rules than the majority of state-level law
> enforcement). In addition to this, the speaker is an Intel Linux Distro
> (YOCTO) release engineer, PLUG speaker (AT meeting on YOCTO) and recent
> OSCON keynote speaker. As this talk was well-received at
> OpenSourceBridge, one of the most politically-correct events in the open
> source community, I stand firmly behind this talk and its speaker. I
> have received much positive feedback and, with the speaker's impending
> travel plans, this was probably the one time we could have this speaker
> and talk, just as we needed a milestone to draw Linus Torvalds.
>
> At best, a minority of attendees have missed key points of the talk. As
> a free-of-charge event run by volunteers, a dissatisfied PLUG attendees
> must simply walk out and reconsider their future attendance of PLUG
> events. The past talks listed at pdxlinux.org will demonstrate that the
> Portland Linux/Unix Group is not, by any measurements a "buncha gun
> nuts" or fans of any particular on-topic or off-topic technology freedom
> subject or project. As for the "Linux" focus, PLUG meets or exceeds the
> world expectation of having a monthly hands-on clinic/install fest and
> LINUS TORVALDS as a speaker.
>
> At worse, because our speaker was a non-white-male, I fear that this
> fact could draw criticism by proxy of either the speaker or myself as an
> organizer.
>
> On that point: Sexism and homophobia will not be tolerated in any
> PLUG-related activity and all members are expected to call attention to
> what they feel are intentional or unintentional violations of this
> common sense and common courtesy rule. *I* have unintentionally broken
> this rule when I asked if a woman at an AT meeting had come with
> someone. For this I am sorry and I hope my good intentions were
> communicated at the meeting and that she will continue to participate in
> PLUG and ultimately give a talk.
>
> Michael Dexter
> PLUG Volunteer
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