Kinshuk Sunil

I am sharing with you an exchange of emails with someone from the Free Software Foundation, India, while working on the OSSCamp Delhi (September 2007). I am censoring it, snipping out few portions and identities from the email that would hint or disclose the other person’s identity for the sole reason that he never gave me his permission to post this exchange on my blog. Other than the identity-hinting portions, I have not snipped anything else. Let me know, what you think of the discussion.

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Dear FSF India
My name is Kinshuk Sunil and I am a Student. Me and my friends are trying to organize an Open Source Event on the lines of the world famous Bar Camps (http://www.barcamp.org ). The name of the event is OSS Camp Delhi [Open Source Software Camp, Delhi]. It is scheduled for September 8th-9th 2007. More information about the event is available at [http://www.osscamp.in/OSSCampDelhi]

The event is free for all and all cost will be managed by the sponsors. I am not writing you this mail to request you to sponsor us. The target audience of the event are Open Source Practitioners and Open Source Enthusiasts, alike and we plan to arrange about 300-500 people. I am asking for your help to spread the word for the event so that people interested in Open Source may choose to be present at this event and contribute to its success.
Some of my friends have already organized one such camp OSSBarCampMumbai in Mumbai on 23rd March 2007 [http://www.barcamp.org/OssBarCampMumbai] and so we are confident of successfully organizing this event too.

I am requesting you to help us spread the word about the event so that people interested in Open Source technologies may attend it. This is a free-for-all event and our objective is not to make any money out of it. This is just facilitating the open source community in India by providing it a favorable platform.

And if you find it deserving, you might also help us by sponsoring it.

Thank you for your valuable time.
Kinshuk Sunil

I got the following reply:

Dear Kinshuk,
It appears that you believe that Open Source (OSS) is the same as Free Software (FS) — the reason probably why you have written to us. Though most Open Source software is licenced under a Free Software licence (such as GNU GPL), OSS and FS are not really the same. This is because FS emphasises the importance of Freedom to all users, OSS enthusiasts see it only as a different means of software development that leads to better software and are not much concerned about the freedom of users. Their emphasis is purely on technology and this sometimes leads to conflicts, though often minor. These are two communities that are co-operating in the development and improvement of software. But the Free Software Foundation and FS activists are very clear that freedom is more important than technology. If you too believe so, I would request you to change the name of your event so that it emphasises freedom, if it is not too late. Else, I would request you to at least emphasise freedom at the event. For details about why OSS and FS are not the same, please see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html

Best
[Speaker]

To which I replied:

Hi [Speaker]
Let me emphasis that even though OSS and FS are philosophically (a bit) different, they are means to achieve the same end. ‘Freedom’ is a very subjective term. For some users, freedom is the potential to limitless opportunities, while to some freedom is the capability to manipulate ceaselessly.

So even though, what you say about OSS was initially true, OSS is not about writing softwares with shareable sources anymore… It is about empowering the developers to write a software that presents limitless opportunities to its users. Technology is just one means of achieving it. OSS incorporates a bit of FS in itself while FS incorporates a bit of OSS.

Within my own limitations, I understand the differences between OSS and FS and i did not write the mail believing the two to be the same. But I believe that OSS and FS are two very similar philosophies working towards the same end and thus, they should collaborate.

While the name of the event cannot be changed, I assure you that the event is all about empowering the future with open source softwares and technology. And when we talk about empowering the future with open source, we talk of facilitating a free world where the only limitations on any individual are that of fairness, morality, honesty, and similar virtues.

Proprietary software is, by nature, limiting, while OSS is a step towards free software.

Your mail and my reply to it inspired me, would you mind if I include these on my blog?
Kinshuk Sunil

I never got a reply to this last mail.
Posted on my blog with positive intentions; kindly forgive my trespass.

Take Care
Kinshuk.