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Comment by rglullis | Hacker News Reader

So, what kind of campaign do you think they should be doing? Granted, there are many other ideas (install fests, donate your old computer, etc) but these are already done, and they can't do that in front of the Apple Store.

Also, these other ideas are all based on some compromise: "Sure, go ahead and spend 2 grand on a macbook pro for you kids going to college, but at least leave the breadcrumbs for us poor folk". As much as it can help, it brings no actual progress to the ideals of the FSF. It would be more of a feel-good campaign than anything else.

If you want to promote Free Software, you need to have good alternatives to proprietary systems, but at the same time you need to fight against the mindshare that the giants have.

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So, what kind of campaign do you think they should be doing?

Why not stand outside an Apple store and hand out DVDs under the motto 'here, free software for your new Mac'? Put LibreOffice, VirtualBox, Adium, and whatnot on it. Insert a flyer explaining what 'free software' means and suggest that they can donate to these projects if they like the software.

Sure, they will be running one OS X. But one step at a time is better than 99% thinking there were approached by nerd Hare Krishnas (nothing against Hinduism, it's about perception).

That is certainly one possibility, but I have my doubts regarding the actual effectiveness in convince people to change their minds about their consumer habits.

The thing is: the FSF is supposed to be "nerd Hare Krishnas". They don't - rather, they shouldn't - want to compromise. They are advocating Free Software. Not open source. Not consumer-friendly gadgets. Not "cool things that Apple can't do". They will preach that using anything Apple is wrong, and they are rightfully voicing their views.

Besides the cost issue, would you install software from a DVD someone just handed you in the street?

Few Macs are sold with DVD drives these days. I'm pretty sure the vast majority would share the fate of the old AOL CD.

You're definitely right here, I don't think the pro line does anymore and the air never has. Small USB sticks aren't much more expensive, however. Especially if you get something as tiny as 256MB and just have a network based installer tool for all the free software distributed.

This is actually a pretty good idea, except for the fact that most new Macs don't come with DVD drives these days.

I used to work at the FSF, and I wrote this: http://www.fsf.org/working-together/moving

Admittedly, not on a disk, but a nice flyer or something for this would be good.

A dvd is not a good idea, but I don't think people know about those options (LibreOffice etc), so even a nicely made flyer or postcard with very clear instructions may genuinely make a lot of people very very happy.

"But if it's running on my Mac, I think I'll just use the iWork suite, and Messages - they are 'free' in the App Store"...

LibreOffice is one of the biggest pieces of trash I have ever used. You must be joking.

I use it as a canonical example of unusable software.

I'm a Free Software Foundation member. I support their goals. But I would rather the money be put towards developing free software and hardware that is friendly to it than these kinds of campaigns.

The reason that people go into the Apple Store rather than buying a fully free software system is that a MacBook Pro Retina is in an entirely different class than a Lemote Yeeloong (one of the few computers that is able to run free software end to end such that Richard Stallman is willing to run it).

I think that working to provide effective free software alternatives, and partnering with hardware companies that supports that mission, would be far more effective than dressing up in a GNU suit outside the Apple store.

The costs of doing this are much lower, and don't prohibit doing other stuff. If the cost of some paper and a black ink cartridge can get FSF.org on the HN front page for a few hours that might in itself be a net win.

This campaign is targeting average consumers, not HN users who already are familiar with the issues.

As I said in my post, I don't really know what it should look like. But standing outside the Apple store telling people they just made a bad purchase decision is no way to win converts. This is like PETA standing outside a butcher shop telling customers buying Thanksgiving turkeys that meat is murder and offering tofurkey.

People want to feel good about their purchase decisions so you already have a strong headwind you are working against. The problem is that people have specific things they want to do with those new iPhones and iPads. The FSF position is that you shouldn't buy one. There isn't really a middle ground here. If my situation is that my teenager yearns to play candy crush on a new iPod touch for Christmas, the FSF message is completely at odds with that and nothing you tell me outside the Apple store on a freezing cold day in Boston is going to move the needle.

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