[GNUz] [IT] Greens urge end to software patents (DomPost)

[Rik Tindall]

What a pity the Green Party has been roped into opportunism and 
compromised integrity thus:

a) R.M. Stallman's visit is what energised the flourish of activity that 
led to this news item, funded by supporters which included GP members 
like myself. The purpose was explicitly to promote the Free culture 
community which has always underpinned the yuppie code-whiz bogus brand 
"Linux". This media item perpetuates a bald-faced marketing lie, that 
"Linux" is anything separable from the GNU (is Not Unix) operating 
system - other than a (not always 'Open') kernel. We expect such blatant 
exploitation from shallow businesses, but from our politicians?.. that 
is insupportable.

b) The next most eggregious falsehood in this business (not wider 
'community') propaganda piece, after not honestly crediting GNU/Linux, 
is that sentence part saying "the large range of free software means the 
centre can experiment with packages and software tools at no cost" 
purposefully degrades the Free Software brand in a most dilettante way. 
To quote:

Free software is software which preserves the freedom of users to modify 
and share software. We recognise these four rights that you, as a user 
of the software, must have:

    * 0. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
    * 1. The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to
      your needs.
    * 2. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour.
    * 3. The freedom to improve the program, and release your
      improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.


See the Free Software Foundation <http://www.fsf.org/about/contact.html> 
for more source material: http://www.fsf.org

Shame on IT/Metiria, for letting this shallow b.s. go out in her name.

~/rik

Mark Servian - Green Party Development Coordinator wrote:
> http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4668175a28.html
> Greens urge end to software patents
> By CLAIRE MCENTEE - The Dominion Post | Monday, 25 August 2008
> The Green Party has called for an overhaul of patent laws that would 
> prevent software being patented.
>  
> The party's policy on information technology was released by MP 
> Metiria Turei.
>  
> Ms Turei, who called for greater use of open source and locally 
> developed software, says excluding software from patents would ensure 
> others could develop ideas. Software would still be protected against 
> piracy by copyright law.
>  
> The party has promised to investigate "the setup of free municipally 
> owned wireless networks". Ms Turei says the cost needs to be 
> researched, but the Government would "almost certainly" need to supply 
> funding.
>  
> Ms Turei says wider adoption of open source software would reduce 
> costs and lead to investment in local IT businesses, which tend to 
> lose out to dominant software companies such as Microsoft.
>  
> "Monopolies have been allowed to form, stifling competition, consumer 
> choice, and indigenous growth of the software industry in Aotearoa/New 
> Zealand."
>  
> Catalyst IT director Mike O'Connor says it is relatively rare for open 
> source software such as Linux to be used on the desktop PCs of 
> companies and organisations, for whom Microsoft is the dominant 
> choice. But the Wellington firm has installed Linux on 350 desktop PCs 
> in Plumbing World branches and on Electoral Enrolment Centre computers.
>  
> Centre systems manager Jason Horncy says it is "very satisfied" with 
> its decision in 2003 to install Linux on the 120 desktop PCs in its 25 
> regional offices and on most PCs in its head office. It previously 
> used Microsoft Windows on its desktops but moved all its main systems, 
> including servers, to open source software at the same time.
>  
> The PCs with Linux are "highly customisable and we can easily make 
> changes to all desktops at once", he says. The software is easy to 
> maintain remotely, and the large range of free software means the 
> centre can experiment with packages and software tools at no cost.
>  
> But there are dangers in converting desktops to Linux, Mr Horncy says. 
> Not all hardware supports Linux so organisations should check before 
> they buy hardware, and check Linux drivers are available for any 
> peripherals.
>  
> Businesses may have Windows- based applications they rely on that 
> cannot be made compatible with Linux through intermediary 
> applications, he says.
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