[LUAU] Ubuntu LoCo

[Al Plant]

Jim Thompson wrote:
>
> Dear LUAU,
>
> Beware the politician who offers one thing while taking another.
>
> I'd like to make an attempt at illumination of the "backstory" here.
>
> I've grown concerned about HOSEF's "dual mission", and its increasing 
> self-conflict within the organization.   Specifically, I think the 
> focus on "eWaste" and recycling is now in-conflict with the "Open 
> Source Education" activity defined by HOSEF's name.
>
> I'd like HOSEF to be more about "education and advocacy" of Free and 
> Open Source in Hawaii, to that end, I've expended some personal 
> resource in that mater.  For example, many of you are perhaps unaware 
> that I personally paid for Richard Stallman's flight here last year.   
> (rms stayed with Scott because he *didn't want* to stay in a hotel.)  
> I also arranged for Barton George and Dave Roberts to attend, though 
> their employer(s) paid their way.   I further paid to fly the group to 
> Kamuela, put them up in a hotel, (over rms's objections), and arranged 
> for them to present to folks there.  While many in the audience were 
> from the astronomy community in Kamuela, one father/son drove in from 
> Kona, and other folks drove in from Hilo.
>
> I received no remuneration from any party for this, I was just "happy 
> to do it".
>
> I've been working on another list of people, including Jordan Hubbard 
> who runs Apple's "unix development group", (and before that ran the 
> FreeBSD project), who was actually born in Honolulu, and others, for a 
> encore.  Rather than a "big event", run in the pursuit of profit, with 
> admission and a large venue, I'm more in-favor of smaller, one-day 
> events, hosted someplace like UH.
>
> I have good contacts in the industry (a side effect form having been 
> in "unix" since 1980), so I think I can be successful collaborating 
> with others (of you, especially) to do this again and again.  I'd also 
> like to help organize more "tech days", not unlike the one that Matt 
> organized around MythTV.  Many of you have good contacts and good 
> ideas as well.   Tellingly, we've not done much, because there has 
> been a 'friction' between LUAU and HOSEF that I've been unable to 
> heal, or even mitigate.   Tellingly, I'm interesting in the 
> 'tinkering' aspects of FOSS, and now I'm about to move into a place 
> where I might actually be able to do it.
>
> Scott thinks I'm attacking him because I want to change HOSEF.  I'm 
> not attacking Scott, but I can understand that he's upset about his 
> "life's work" (to quote John Edwards) of eWaste being separated from 
> an organization that both he and many other's see as "his".   In the 
> minds of (far) too many, HOSEF *is* Scott, and herein lies the issue.
>
> I see real dangers of a 501(c)3 (like HOSEF) intertwined with both 
> political campaigns (Scott's, his former employers, his former/future 
> political opponents).
>
> I see real dangers of a 501(c)3 that begins to attach large revenue 
> streams, such as could be realized by HOSEF becoming an "eWaste" 
> recycler.
>
> I've hear now from too many people that they'd be interested in HOSEF, 
> without the "recycled computers in schools" aspect.
>
> And, to be blunt, I see real dangers of an organization that is, by 
> all appearances, the corporate identity of one man.
>
> So, with these things in-mind, I'd like HOSEF to change its mission to 
> concentrate on "education and advocacy" of Open Source *in* Hawaii, 
> run with much more involvement from the community.    The alternative 
> is to abandon HOSEF, but I don't think thats quite as good an outcome.
>
> So, with you the community in-mind, I'd like to hear from you on this 
> matter, preferably on-list, but I'll take private comments (and keep 
> them private) on this matter.
>
> Jim
>
> _______________________________________________
> LUAU at lists.hosef.org mailing list
> http://lists.hosef.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/luau
>
Aloha Jim and all HOSEF and old LUAU members,

I cant see the point in letting some company trash old computers that 
could have an open source os on them and reused for schools or boys and 
girls clubs etc. That goes against Open source. It smells of M$ to me.

Some people in elected office must have a brother in law in the recycle 
business ... this is Hawaii.

I have known Scott for many years and he has always been supportive of 
the open source community education and anti establishment. Unless he's 
changed his stripes he should be in favor education and of retired 
computers going to the open source movement not the  trash.

If there are two streams of thought then we should consider two separate
organizations. Maybe even two lists.


Al Plant