The Family Guide to Digital Freedom

What is the goal of this Digifreedom section? Why is it so different from the rest of the website?

In his review of the Family Guide to Digital Freedom, B. Byfield correctly pointed out that critics and opinion pieces should be clearly separated from the rest of the Family Guide to Digital Freedom and, if they really have to remain on the same website, the reasons for doing so should be clear. I have already explained the practical ones in my reply to Byfield's review. Explaining the others, as well as the meaning and objective of these opinions, is the purpose of this page.

Main audience for this section of the website

The main audience for this section are all the traditional activists of the Free/Open Source Software and Free Culture movements (named FOSS/FC in the rest of this page). Almost everything here is probably relevant only for them. Regardless of relevance, a full understanding of the point of these pages is probably possible only if you are already familiar with the history, needs and goals of those movements.

Parents and teachers, that is the main intended audience of the Family Guide book, may safely skip this section altogether, even though, of course, everybody is welcome to read these pages and send feedback.

Difference in tone, content and purpose between the Opinions and the Guide

Tone, content and purpose of these "opinions" are actually very different from everything else you will find in the book and this website (I have already given a partial explanation of this on Linux Journal).

First of all, these "opinions" are just that, my (Marco) personal opinions, even if I am firmly convinced that they reflect how things stand today. In the second place, yes, most of the content of these pages is a firm critic of how many people practice, advocate or abuse FOSS/FC. Please do not spend time saying "I never did or say anything like that, nor did I ever meet anybody doing it". I do believe you, but I have witnessed personally, many times, all the behaviors and attitude I attack in these pages, and I'm fed up with them.

So, these pages are indeed a summary of everything I don't like about the current situation in this field. If I didn't care for these issues or were happy with what has happened so far, the book and this website would have no need to exist.

In any case, these opinions have not been published just to start some other pointless flame war. One reason why they are online is to force the FOSS/FC communities to think seriously at last, even if they don't agree with my analysis and proposals, about the problems I mention.

There is also a somewhat "strategic" reason to do all this on the same website which hosts the book and wants to offer constructive advice to parents. If I am right, one of the main obstacles to finally turning all parents and teachers into FOSS/FC supporters might just be the same people who keep "practising" or advocating these ideals in a, shall we say, narrow-minded way: if they continue to do so and are not isolated, they will also continue to scare away anybody who may be stimulated by the book to use and support FOSS/FC.

It is essential, instead, that we work together: placing critique on FOSS/FC-related errors alongside the proposed solution is a way of saying "if you don't acknowledge these problems and correct them, anything good that may come your way by means of my book will be negated: please, let's avoid this".

This said, as far as I am concerned these critics are in the past. The future is the book and the rest of this website, and rest assured that they will contain almost nothing of all this. They exist to provide objective advice and support, not attack. Doing differently would be pointless and terribly boring for readers, that is really counterproductive for everybody.

The last reason why these opinions are here is simply to save me some time. I expect many people from the FOSS/FC communities to ask me "how can you recommend this in the book?" or "Why aren't you criticizing that?". Hopefully, these pages will allow me simply to respond "for the reasons explained at (some URL in this section)", instead of tiping the same answers every time.

Will there be more additions to this section of Digifreedom.net?

To be honest, as of October 2006 I (Marco) do still have two or three itches to scratch, but not more. Almost surely, however, they will have to wait until the book is ready.

Best Regards,

Marco Fioretti