Pete Bessman wrote: > On Fri, 2005-08-26 at 10:12 +1000, Shayne O'Connor wrote: > >>by all means, do what you want - but you can have yr fruitcake and eat >>it, too. > > > If you don't think "GNU" and "Free Software" are stumbling blocks to > mainstream adoption of the fruit of our community's labor, then I must > conclude, to borrow a concept from Samizdata, that you and I exist in > alternate realities. I have been a non-stop evangelist for our platform > in Real Life (TM), in many bands and with many musicians (and the > occasional fan). And based on my Real Life (TM) experience with these > groups, I find the results of "GNU/Linux," "Free Software," et al, to be > exceedingly suboptimal. > > Here's my recollection of how an exemplary conversation went down with a > bassist I once worked with: > > "Hey man, that beat is pretty slick, whadja use to roll it?" > > 'A free software sampler I wrote for GNU/Linux.' <snip> sorry to snip so much, but as i said ... who wants/needs to use GNU/Linux in everyday conversation and in general discussion. i only suggest that if you're getting some sort of wiki or web page that is going to be a primer in all things related to linux software, then gee - it's pretty damned easy just to write GNU/Linux. seriously, if the concept of Free software is that hard to grasp, then i doubt anyone's going to have any luck with the stuff that *actually is confusing* - like getting a piece of software installed. it's got nothing to do with ideology, and everything to do with reality. GNU/Linux. Three letters and a backslash. The FSF is so much more than just a pain in the arse - as its name implies, it is a foundation on which *lots* of stuff has been built. when yr mate asks how you roll beats in future, shouldn't you just say "with a program called Specimen"? shayne
