[gentoo-dev] If I may interject...

[Mike Lundy]

On Wednesday 16 August 2006 14:49, Duncan wrote:
> You ever seen the term "slaveryware"?  You have now.

[This preface is directed at everyone who might respond to this, not just 
Duncan. I strive to be logical about this, and as un-inflammatory as 
possible. If you are going to respond, please make the same effort; I'm ok 
with being the latest person to start a discussion; I'm not ok with being the 
latest person to start a flamewar. So, with that said...]

I told a friend that there were some in the community who called proprietary 
software slaveryware. His response? "Holy shit!" If that term spreads, we can 
forget about convincing otherwise logical people that free software is the 
Right Way. There are two problems with it:

1) It's incorrect. There is nothing at this point in time that causes you to 
be enslaved by proprietary software. There are stories of speculative 
fiction, such as "Right to Read" and other, better written stories; those 
stories are just that- fiction. Microsoft does not beat you or chain you to 
their operating system. Sun does not whip you to use java. Members of the 
wider computer community may, through their own adoption, but Sun has nothing 
to do with it. You must convince members of your community to stay away from 
proprietary software. This leads me to the second error.

2) It's intentionally offensive. The end goal of the free software movement, 
as I understand it, is to convince everyone that freedom in software is 
something to strive for. Some people do not immediately see the light of 
this, and must be convinced through logical means. Convincing people to see 
the benefits of free software is difficult enough. Stealing a cliche- can you 
imagine explaining to your mother about slaveryware? If you use that term, 
you then have to convince people that that term is accurate. The discussion 
will be about the slaveryware /word/ instead of the free software /idea/. 
That is counterproductive, and will likely cause you to be dismissed as a 
extremist (though, hopefully not by your mother). Intentionally offending the 
very people we need to convince does not help us at all.

So please, for the good of the community, stop using it. Don't stop with the 
message, just cease using a term that would crystallize people against us if 
it spread. Thanks.