Slashdot Mirror
Meet the Director of the Software Freedom Conservancy (Video)
Twelve years ago, Slashdot interviewed Brad Kuhn in his then-role as VP of the Free Software Foundation. Kuhn is still involved with the FSF, but has gone on, after a stint as CTO for the Software Freedom Law Center, to concentrate his efforts as President, Executive Director of the Software Freedom Conservancy. The Conservancy offers organization and support to copylefted and permissively licensed software, and Brad explains in the video below what that entails, as well as where the Conservancy fits in the expanding landscape of organizations that help protect the rights of software developers. Brad makes no bones about wishing for a world where all software is Free software, but that's a big-picture goal. In the meantime, there's a lot of work to go around, just making sure that developers' chosen licenses are intelligently selected, and properly respected.
Actually, I don't think it would be all that difficult to have a FOSS model for gaming. There is plenty of engine reuse already, and if major studios dropped half as much into funding FOSS development of these engines as they do for licensing, they could probably get much better engines out of it.
However, you seem to be implying that the FOSS model doesn't work in the real world. However, in many of the markets where there is more or less equal footing, such as most anything web based), FOSS projects dominate. The areas where it is weaker are those with firmly entrenched proprietary incumbents. It's hard to displace Windows or Photoshop with their big head start and aggressive use of possibly illegal tactics and lock-in, but Apache, Wordpress, Drupal, etc. are largely considered the standard.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I asked the Slashdot folks to make the video available in a format viewable with Free Software. I've sent an email to ask to make sure that happens. Unlike RMS, I don't necessarily object to videos of me being available in proprietary formats, as long as they are *also* available in a format viewable with Free Software.
I suspect this was just a communication problem between me and the interviewer. It should get resolved.
A GPL-based project I contribute to wanted to become a member of the SFC, however it seems they have a large backlog of applications and are understaffed. It's been over 2.5 years since we've applied and we've yet to hear anything.
So, does anyone have any suggestions for alternatives?
We're not large, but could grow if we could get some framework for donations going. As such the financial side is our primary interest. We've decided against personal paypal accounts etc as we've had bad experience with this in the past, hence wanting something tied to the project.