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On Mon, Jul 04, 2005 at 08:22:07PM +0100, Daniel Drake wrote: |
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> Could you please discuss this amongst yourselves, and if you agree it is a |
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> good idea, please read the following instructions so that we can join the |
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> demonstration against software patents on gentoo.org: |
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> |
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> http://wiki.noepatents.eu.org/webdemo/ |
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This has stirred up quite a lot of noise lately. We are here asked to check |
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out if it is in Gentoo's best interest to put out a public statement against |
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software patents and, if so, how we would make this statement (for instance |
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with a link on the front page). |
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I personally feel that Gentoo should have discussed this a lot sooner and |
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make a noted decision on the subject (noted so it can be used when the |
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discussion pops up again). The issue on software patents has been on the |
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European politic journal for quite some time now (a few years). |
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Putting up a public statement now, less than a day in advance of the |
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item being discussed in the European Parliament, would in my opinion have |
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zero effect. Yet staying silent on the matters doesn't do Gentoo any good |
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either. |
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In my opinion, the best course of action would be to draft an article where |
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Gentoo places its concerns on the software patent matters and how it could |
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effect Gentoo. The article would make clear /why/ Gentoo is against (or in |
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favor - not that this will be most likely) of the current Software Patent |
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Directive [1]. |
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We can then publish this article on the Gentoo web site and, if necessary, |
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put a link on top of the main page to this article. |
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I personally do not like to put banners on our web site. For one, people are |
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tired of banners. It would imo be a lot cleaner to have a single link on top |
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of the main page that points to the article. It only takes a few characters |
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and doesn't interfere with the current site layout (which the banners, |
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frankly, do). |
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Wkr, |
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Sven Vermeulen |
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[1] The article should not talk about "software patents" sensu lato but use |
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an explicit, known public document (the directive as it currently |
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stands) as the base for its content. |
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-- |
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Documentation project leader - Gentoo Foundation Trustee |
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|
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The Gentoo Project <<< http://www.gentoo.org >>> |
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