[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: Digression

[Taran Rampersad]

This is a request for personal clarification which may benefit others.

Georg C. F. Greve wrote:

>Dear Vittorio,
>
>the thread about the FSF seems a digression on the discussion, as the
>FSFs have neither claimed representativity for all of Free Software,
>nor were the people selected by the PCT Working Group predominantly
>From the FSFs.
>
(1) To my knowledge, the people who speak for the Free Software
Movement/GNU are listed here (I had spoken to David Sugar at one point
about becoming a speaker):

English: http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html
Portugese: http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.pt.html
Spanish: http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.es.html

Would it be safe to assume that these same people are the ones who speak
for the Free Software Foundation? Obviously, yourself and RMS are two,
but who else is there?

(2) The FSF is formally listed to be of the United States
(http://www.fsf.org ), Europe (http://www.fsfeurope.org/ ) and India
(http://fsf.org.in/ ) off of the main FSF website.

2 years ago I emailed the FSF about whether there were plans to start a
'chapter' in the Caribbean/Latin American region, and I was informed
that there were no such plans. It was suggested that an organization be
created which allied with the FSF. This I did not do (for many reasons,
but none philosophical) - yet it's quite difficult to say if an allied
organization's views of Free Software are that of the Free Software
Foundation.

Further, the FSF's representation does not cover the part of the world
that I live in, and I have yet to find a Free Software group in the
region I would ally with. I am certain I am not alone in the world with
such a problem, and while the FSF has made much of Free Software
concrete, it certainly has not done it all by itself. The community,
whether as members of the FSF or not, has helped considerably and it's
arguable that the community has done more, whereas the FSF has been a
guide for the Free Software community. The community outside of the FSF
does deserve credit.
---
There are many of us out here who discuss Free Software (or as I now
prefer, Software Libre), but it's quite difficult to an external
observer to figure out who is speaking for the FSF, and who are speaking
for Free Software without the blessing of the FSF. As an example, I
would not label myself a Free Software Advocate (and I'm certain a few
FSF people would not label me such either). But it is important to know
what the FSF's stance on things are, especially in the context of the
WSIS, in regions where the FSF is not established.

Thank you in advance for clarification.

-- 
Taran Rampersad

cnd at knowprose.com

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