software libre para ecuador!

Richard meets with Rafael Correa to explain why free software is the right choice for Ecuador. It appears that Ecuador will now put forth a plan to make free software the country's standard.

Of course, U.S.-based corporate pressure will likely follow. It will be interesting to see if those in charge have the fortitude needed to carry this through to the end. But for now, congratulations to Ecuador as they move toward liberation.

Kudos to Kanata - Part 2

In June of last year I expressed approval.

While it's disturbing that some even consider gender a factor of marriage law, it's good to see the continued ostracization of irrational bigotry.

what we "don't understand"

The online beating Novell has been taking (Bruce has even more here following his letter of protest) has produced some rather vapid articles pointing out the "good" of Novell's seditious patent deal with Microsoft. Here's one example. In it, corporate CEO Peter Yared makes the claim that -

"many open-source backers fundamentally don't understand the software business."

and that...

"The software business is a ruthless business. [...] It's ugly. It's competition. And it's good for customers."

While it's true that we in the free and open source software communities do not understand something, it is not Yared's view of the "software business." In fact, our understanding runs deep and our very existence manifests through our desire to change it. What we don't understand is why we (or anyone for that matter) should accept ruthlessness as a way of life.