[Values-ethics] 506 / The United World Visions Festivals on Global Issues for a new global information society

[Richard Stallman]

    I would be taking a great risk if I would advise the VRO board to make a =
    switch from Microsoft now, you, Claude and Geert understand this, but I =
    stand open for the right challenge to do so. In other words: Yes I'm =
    willing to resist Microsoft influence, but will the 4 of you (including =
    WSIS) assure us that there will be no hard feelings if we reject your =
    proposal?

I won't condem your project completely merely for using Windows, even
though I would say that ethically it is harmful to use that.  Whether
using Windows would make your project harmful depends on details of
how you use it, which I don't know.  It cannot be a good thing to use
Windows, but it can be more or less harmful.

I am focusing on looking for a way you can choose a better path.

     Secondly, we are talking about 750,000 hits per day, who can =
    compete with this?

I am confused.  What is the specific thing you are asking us to
compete with?  Your use of the expression "hits per day" suggests you
may be talking about a web site--is that what you mean?  Free software
for web sites is very capable, very reliable, very efficient, and very
widely use.  More than half the world's web sites run on Apache, and
many of then run it on the GNU/Linux system.  I think that Google runs
on a free operating system.



project could be a positive contribution to the world despite using
Windows depends on details that I don't know.  To what extend