[PLUG] The house bill, a possible problem...

[Carla Schroder]

On Saturday 23 August 2003 10:12 pm, Steven A. Adams wrote:
> > Call me evil if you want, but the unfortunate reality is that THIS
> > is how politics works.
>
> Lighten up Ken, nobody calls you evil; we only call you unfortunate.
> This IS the way that politics works but not the way that open-source
> works (catch a clue, we are better than this bullshit). If you really
> want to change something, work toward changing politics. There's your
> challenge, one that we all know you will excel at - we do have faith in
> you and we all appreciate what your trying to do (but the end does not
> justify the means).

You first. It's hard enough getting the Legislature to pay attention to a 
piece of proposed legislation, let alone "change politics". The folks behind 
this bill have done a tremendous job. Perhaps your contribution could be 
changing politics?

Ken is talking common sense- you have to reach people at their level, and 
couch your message in terms that make sense to them. This is true of all 
people, including you and me and everyone on this list. Did you see Cooper's 
piece on Linux Today? http://linuxtoday.com/developer/2003081800926OSLLPB

"These folk of Josephine County are fairly down to earth. When I spoke with 
many of them about TCO, peer review, etc., I quickly learned that most people 
in that area aren't concerned with that kind of thing. "Well, that's all and 
good," they would begin, "but you see, there's an antique dealer downtown who 
would really like to sell his goods online. What can open-source do for him?" 

"Okay, we're down to Earth. "Bottom line," I said, "is that open-source 
software lets the shop keeper cost-effectively hire a local consultant to put 
up a server for him on commodity hardware. Guess what: you've just increased 
the shopkeeper's revenue and given the consultant a job. The sooner your area 
gets up to speed with open-source software, the better you can compete." 

Calling it 'spin', as Ken did, puts a negative connotation to it. I wouldn't 
have said 'spin'- to me that's calling shit chocolate pudding. What Ken and 
Cooper have done is present the issue in a way that's meaningful to the 
people they're talking to. There's no deception there. The folks behind this 
bill have done an amazing job. They deserve thanks and praise- not put-downs. 

-- 
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Carla Schroder
www.tuxcomputing.com
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