The Free Software Foundation Is Trying To Figure Out Its Future

[phoronix]

Phoronix: The Free Software Foundation Is Trying To Figure Out Its Future

The Free Software Foundation is more than 30 years old now and in charting a potential new course for the organization, they are looking for your help by filling out a survey...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=FSF-2016-Survey

[birdie]

Michael, perhaps, you'll be interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comme...ity_assurance/

[Azrael5]

First of all that symbol appears to be a satanic symbol... besides it would be useful to make free BIOS and hardware.

[buzzrobot]

The FSF, among others, should focus on making free software so useful and so attractive to ordinary mainstream consumers that they will demand it.

Thirty years have been spent by some folks trying to popularize free software because, they've argued, it is the right thing to do. That has not significantly increase the percentage of the population using free software. People generally resent being told to do something different because it's supposed to be right. They take that as condemnation of their current behavior as unethical.

If free software cannot attract users on its own merits, apart from its ethical status, then it doesn't deserve success.

[buzzrobot]

Focus on making free software more attractive and useful on its own merits, apart from its ethical status. Consumers won't use a product they don't like simply because a few crusaders insist they should.

[raom]

Making a mean networm to end M$ monopoly

[Calinou]

Focus on making free software more attractive and useful on its own merits, apart from its ethical status. Consumers won't use a product they don't like simply because a few crusaders insist they should.

Have you contributed towards doing it? Do you report bugs that impact you, do you perform quality assurance (like beta testing)?

[Luke_Wolf]

The FSF, among others, should focus on making free software so useful and so attractive to ordinary mainstream consumers that they will demand it.

Thirty years have been spent by some folks trying to popularize free software because, they've argued, it is the right thing to do. That has not significantly increase the percentage of the population using free software. People generally resent being told to do something different because it's supposed to be right. They take that as condemnation of their current behavior as unethical.

If free software cannot attract users on its own merits, apart from its ethical status, then it doesn't deserve success.

Sorry what you're looking for is Open Source Software not Free Software in that case. Free Software is all about ideology even and especially at the expense of quality. Open Source are the guys who care about quality and improving the software ecosystem as a whole.

[buzzrobot]

Sorry what you're looking for is Open Source Software not Free Software in that case. Free Software is all about ideology even and especially at the expense of quality. Open Source are the guys who care about quality and improving the software ecosystem as a whole.

Angels on a pinhead stuff, then. RMS, et al, have been at it for 30 years and they're the only ones wearing hairshirts.

[buzzrobot]

Have you contributed towards doing it? Do you report bugs that impact you, do you perform quality assurance (like beta testing)?

Yes, I've done my share. Debugging and beta testing really isn't the point, though. It's more about product conception, design, execution and marketing.