-----Original Message----- From: Jim Herrmann

... What I would like to know from some of you guys is, which of your values are best served by OSS? Please let me know either directly in confidence, or publicly to the list, where you consider yourself on the conservative/moderate/progressive political spectrum, and what it is about OSS that appeals to you.

What I like about OSS? Hmmm... that tough. Well I like Linux because it doesn't crash like the older Windows OSes. It doesn't have nauseating click-through license agreements. It runs XWindows and various desktop managers that allow me to have multiple virtual desktops within my desktop (not to mention I can have multiple desktops by running multiple copies). I used to use a Norton Desktop on older Windows which gave me a similar effect. So I guess that would fall under better usability, at least for me. I like the idea of free as in speech, and that I can control what is and is not installed/running on my own hardware. What's not to like about free as in beer either, Although I have bought many versions of Linux and some other OSS software. It's nice to be able to pull something down, install it and try it out. I guess that is why I've always like shareware also. It's also nice to not have to worry about losing your system to a virus/worm. Not that Linux is immune, just harder to destroy.

So I guess the way I feel about Linux could be extended to OSS in general.

1) More stable than older versions of Windows (they've gotten a lot better in recent years). 2) Freedom (freedom to: think, choose, from nauseating legalalities, use, share) 3) Safety from viruses and worms. 4) The community in general.

Politically? Hmm... conservative-liberal-"social-democratic"-empowerist(?) or something like that. (basically I tend more away from the right (my liberal part) but not entirely, and not everything on the left appeals to me either (my conservative part), yet I feel that we are responsible for taking take of our fellow beings (my social- democratic part) while still making people responsible for their own actions (my empowerist part - for lack of a better term)). See if you can pigeonhole that one. Oh sure I could say liberal and be done with it, but it wouldn't really fit me.

Brian Densmore