mick mbm@rlogin.net wrote:
slef
I confess I'm puzzled by your reply. I have not got "the hump" at all, and I'm not at all sure why you think I have - but no matter.
I think so because of these "open letter" style emails on the list which seem to be making it all very personal.
My point was (and is) simple. If a questioner here asks for advice about how to do something quickly using FLOSS and someone on the list happens to know that there is an on-line resource which will meet a short term need without much development being necessary, it should be perfectly acceptable to point that out. [...]
My point is that it's not acceptable. If someone asks specifically for a FOSS way to achieve a task, pointing out that there are non-FOSS ways to do it is unhelpful and should not be done.
It's like if someone asks for a bike route somewhere, it's unhelpful to give them directions for getting there by boat.
Yes, ideally all responses should point solely to "the one true way". But in reality that may not be possible. [...]
Maybe sometimes, but in this case, limeservice.org already exists and is already more mature than the non-FOSS competitor suggested.
I bow to no-one in my advocacy of FLOSS over proprietary software. And, personally I abhor what companies like google (which purportedly support FLOSS ideals) are doing. Nevertheless, if someone on this list said "I need a really quick way to develop a web based meeting scheduler, I'd say "have you considered doodle?", if they wanted a quick way to post photos on-line, I say "what about flickr, or picasa" - you get my drift I'm sure.
Yes, I get the drift: freedom doesn't seem to matter, despite the protestations. There are already many FOSS replacements for most services, but they're not what would be suggested.
The people on this list are all here because they share a common passion - linux and FLOSS. But let's not be blinded by that passion.
Let's not be blinded by the marketing moolah of private web services either.
Oh - and I'm not trying to "trick" anyone into doing anything. I was simply pointing ouut a possible solution.
Is something still a solution if it fails to meet the requirements?
Regards,