Stallman vende autografos para la causa.....

http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/04/28/1648203&from=rss
Stallman sells autographs for the cause
Saturday April 29, 2006 (12:00 PM GMT)
By: Joe Barr

Sports stars, musicians, and other celebrities have been charging for autographs
for years, but who would have thought Richard Stallman would be doing the same?

We received a story submission earlier this week from one "Han Solo, Jr."
pointing us toward this story in Portugese about Stallman's recent visit to
Porto Alegre, Brazil, to attend the 7th Annual International Free Software
Forum.

Mister "Solo" wrote:

    Just for fun, or a clever, highly effective protest? Hackers, geeks and
nerds gathered together at the 7th FISL - Internacional Free Software Forum, in
Porto Alegre (Brazil) last week, were astounded when they got word that Richard
Stallman, the founding father of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the
GPL, was charging R$ 10 (about US$ 3) for an autograph and R$ 5 (less than US$
2) to get his picture taken by free software enthusiasts at the event floor.

He went on to report that about 200 attendees protested the "Autograph Tax" by
marching on the FSF booth and singing the Imperial March from Star Wars, as well
as the Portugese version of "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!" He also wrote that
Stallman "reacted as a gentleman and a good sport, promising to rethink his
policies about the Autograph Tax. Everyone (including him) had their fun, and
most people got something to think about afterwards."

We contacted Stallman about the report and he replied:

    The term "autograph tax" is a foolish exaggeration--I am not a government,
so I cannot make anyone pay taxes. I'm told that such foolishness is common
among the people making this criticism: that they generally seek opportunities
to criticize the Free Software Foundation, whether valid or not.

    Shortly after I arrived in FISL, someone asked me to sign his convention
badge. I realized that thousands of people might attend, and signing thousands
of convention badges could take hours. Therefore I said I would sign it in
exchange for a contribution of 10 reais (5 dollars) for the Free Software
Foundation. Likewise, I realized that hundreds or thousands might ask me to pose
with them for photographs. So I decided to ask 5 reais for this, about $2.50,
also for the Free Software Foundation.

    People who ask me to sign or pose are asking for some of my time, which
needs must come from my other volunteer work for the cause. On most occasions,
the total time involved is not very large, so I do as they ask, taking steps to
make the process efficient. But this does not mean my time is theirs to dispose
of. I think it is entirely proper to ask people to make a small contribution to
the cause in exchange. By charging for autographs and for poses, I raised a few
hundred dollars for the FSF and FSF Latin America, and perhaps saved myself
several boring hours of signing badges. This money will help us spread the
philosophy of free software--a difficult job, because so many users of the GNU
operating system think it is "Linux" and do not realize that it comes from the
free software ideals.

    I believe that all software ethically must be free, free in the sense of
respecting the users' freedom, but I don't believe that software must be
gratis--nor services, such as autographing or posing. Rather, I believe people
deserve the freedom to decide whether to do these things. So I decline to
support the newly formed gratis autograph movement. Instead, I hererby launch
the free autographing movement, which advocates everyone's freedom to sign
autographs or not.

    Copyright 2006 Richard Stallman. Verbatim copying and distribution of this
entire response are permitted worldwide without royalty in any medium provided
this notice is preserved.



-- 

Julian Casasbuenas
Director Colnodo
Av. 39 No. 14-66, Bogota, Colombia
Tel: 57-1-2324246, Cel. 57-315-3339099 Fax: 57-1-3380264
www.colnodo.apc.org
Miembro de la Asociacion para el Progreso de las Comunicaciones -APC-
www.apc.org


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