Re: MOSTLY OFF-TOPIC: Communicating with the Academic Community

Subject: Re: MOSTLY OFF-TOPIC: Communicating with the Academic Community
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 12:22:06 -0700


Darren Barefoot wrote:

In my capacity as (try not to laugh) "technology evangelist", we've developed
a "free software licenses for students" program. Basically, anybody with
an academic email license can download a 12-month license of our
software for non-commerical use.

Are you calling the program a "free software license"? If so, you might be having a PR problem you didn't anticipate: what you're offering isn't free software, and many people in academia will know that. As a result, you may be unintentionally giving your company the appearance of being either ignorant or deliberately misleading.

As you may know, "free software" is a term for software for which the source code is available. A more formal definition would be software released under a free software license, such as the GNU General Public License.From what you say, the software is not free in any of these senses.

Academia is probably the worst possible place to make such a slip. Universities are hotbeds of free software advocates. For one thing, most students are young and as idealistic as they'll ever be, and campuses are places where idealism can flourish. For another, free software principles are very close to those of academic freedom,so they strike a natural chord with students and instructors.

Of course, it's hard to know whether this really is a problem. But you might want to do the safe thing and rethink your program's name.

--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177

"To Newgate Gaol they took him, the Ranter's dream was dead,
He had no taste for martyrdom; 'I will recant,' he said,
'I banished sin, but I have erred, it cannot be denied
'That these are sin: greed, tyranny, hypocrisy and pride.'"
- Leon Rosselson, "Abezier Coppe"



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Save up to 50% with RoboHelp Deluxe. Get 2 great products for 1 low price!
You'll get RoboHelp Office PLUS RoboDemo, the software demonstration tool
that everyone's been talking about. Check it out and save!
http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

TECHWR-L is supported by ads and sponsorships...and donations.
You can help maintain the TECHWR-L community with donations
at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/abouttechwhirl/donate.html

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


Follow-Ups:

References:
MOSTLY OFF-TOPIC: Communicating with the Academic Community: From: Darren Barefoot

Previous by Author: Re: To STC or not to STC?
Next by Author: Re: Do I have to understand the material?
Previous by Thread: MOSTLY OFF-TOPIC: Communicating with the Academic Community
Next by Thread: Re: MOSTLY OFF-TOPIC: Communicating with the Academic Community


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads