Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Proposal for "FUD responses" wiki pages

[Fabio Pesari]

On 02/28/2016 01:09 PM, Michael Lamb wrote:
>> This is a great idea and I think we should start organizing to make it
>> reality.
> 
> Okay, here's an initial proposal just to get the ball rolling:
> [...]

Weird enough, a while ago I started to write a free book called
"Libre software apologetics" (inspired by C.S. Lewis) which had the
exact same intent!

It used a conversational style (one-sentence responses), but I scrapped
it since I tried some of my arguments on people and they didn't work
(see the previous thread for reference).

I also didn't want to write something that could be misinterpreted as
edgy, judgemental or condescending, while my intention was to use
arguments based on reason and information exclusively.

Now, I am no writer and I really didn't plan to ever talk about it, but
since the cat is out of the bag, I think the fact that we've had a
similar idea is very meaningful, and I think using _reason_ and
_information_ should still be the way to go about doing this in a way
that won't just annoy people and/or cause them to perpetuate their
labelling of free software activists as zealots and cultists.

So, if you ask me, it's an idea worth pursuing. I think we should work
on making it a short pamphlet under a free license (in multiple
languages, if possible) and make sure all free software activists can
download a copy (and contribute to it) easily.

I also think a person from the other side (someone who doesn't mind
and/or supports proprietary software) should be involved in its writing.
Their arguments should be listened to and addressed, one by one. It's no
good to have one-side conversations, and they are the target audience
anyway: arguments that can be dismissed pretty easily are useless, and
we should make sure our arguments have no blind spots and/or fallacies.