<div dir="ltr">As we think about how we might articulate a set of principles, I might suggest we pick a focus. What I mean by that may be best demonstrated with an example [from a recent blog post on open source memes]:<div><div><br></div><div>"Meme #10: Software freedom and open source licensing are different discussions.</div><div>Arguing about software freedom versus open source software is like debating whether democracy is better than capitalism, or free speech is more important than free markets. They are each important discussions in their own rights, and people often have a natural affinity for one subject or the other, but they are not the same discussion. They are not end points on a continuum. The language of software freedom is defined by the rights of users. The language of open source software is defined by attributes of a license. These are different discussions."<br></div></div><div><br></div><div>I think the respective definitions are both very crisp and can be cleanly differentiated because they are clearly discussing things from a perspective (the user's or the license's) and then they can focus on a set of relevant attributes (rights for users, attributes of a license). I think that quality of perspective makes each of those definitions powerful. </div><div>cheers, always stephe</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 4:08 AM, Leslie Hawthorn <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lhawthorn@opensource.org" target="_blank">lhawthorn@opensource.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="">On 5 April 2016 at 00:06, Allison Randal <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:allison@opensource.org" target="_blank">allison@opensource.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span>On 04/04/2016 03:08 PM, Allison Randal wrote:<br>
> The difference between a mailing list and an "official" working group is<br>
> a simple process where we explain to the OSI board what we want to do,<br>
> and the board says "that makes sense". I've put together a first draft<br>
> using the standard template, could you all take a look and see whether<br>
> I've captured the idea behind the group? Feel free to suggest any<br>
> changes or make them directly to the wiki page:<br>
><br>
> <a href="https://wiki.opensource.org/bin/Projects/Beyond+Licensing+Working+Group+Proposal" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://wiki.opensource.org/bin/Projects/Beyond+Licensing+Working+Group+Proposal</a><br></span></blockquote><div><br></div></span><div>Proposal LGTM.<br><br></div><div>Thank you for volunteering to chair the Working Group, Deb! <br></div><span class=""><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span>
<br>
</span>A note: I have a hope that the final result will be a set of principles<br>
that the FSF could also approve, with a quick substitution of "free<br>
software" for "open source". That might sound radical, until you recall<br>
that the Open Source Definition is just a few quick substitutions on the<br>
Debian Free Software Guidelines.<br>
<br>
I don't know that it belongs as a goal in the charter for the working<br>
group, since it would be the FSF's choice whether they want it at all.<br>
But, it does influence the process, and especially makes me glad that we<br>
have participants who self-identify as "free software" as well as<br>
participants who self-identify as "open source".<br>
<br>
I'd aim for a third version that substitutes "software freedom", but<br>
grammatically I think we're far less likely to succeed at a 1:1<br>
replacement with that phrase.<br></blockquote><div><br></div></span><div>I would hope this third version would be possible with some clever editing and I volunteer to assist with that effort when the time is right.<br><br></div><div>Cheers,<br></div><div>LH<br><br>----<br>Leslie Hawthorn<br>Board Member <br><div>Open Source Initiative<br></div><a href="http://opensource.org" target="_blank">http://opensource.org</a></div></div></div></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font face="monospace, monospace">Stephen R. Walli<br>mailto: <a href="mailto:stephen.walli@gmail.com" target="_blank">stephen.walli@gmail.com</a> <br>mobile: +1 425 785 6102 <br>blogs: <a href="http://stephesblog.blogs.com" target="_blank">http://stephesblog.blogs.com</a> (Once More unto the Breach)<br> <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/community/walli" target="_blank">https://opensource.com/user_articles/16271</a> (<a href="http://opensource.com" target="_blank">opensource.com</a>)<br>Flickr: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenrwalli/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenrwalli/</a><br>LinkedIn: <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenrwalli" target="_blank">http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenrwalli</a><br>Twitter: @stephenrwalli</font></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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