[Ubuntu-be] it & elections: zdnet article series (dutch only)

[Amedee Van Gasse]

On Tue, June 5, 2007 01:14, Bert Mariën wrote:
> Howdy all,
>
> I'm wandring: is this the place to talk politics?
> I think not.

If it is relevant for Ubuntu (or Linux in general) in Belgium, then yes it
is relevant for this list. The people on this list have a certain maturity
so we won't see misbehaviors here like on news:be.politics. As long as we
follow the Ubuntu CoC and respect each other, there is no problem for me.

> Siegfried De Bie wrote:
>> Hi
>> Are my conclusions on the 2 pages off http://www.softwarepatenten.be
>> correct.  When i say there only two parties groen and VB who are against
>> software patents.  I know i will not vote for one off them.
>> I still don't know who gets my vote.
>> Or maybe spa they have a avarage score.
>> But we will see what zdnet is going to say.

There is no such thing as a party who is 100% for or against something,
certainly not with highly technical topics. Politicians generally aren't
software experts and have to rely on the advice of real experts.
It's not really important wat a party says now about free software
(usually nothing at all). Most important is if they want to listen to
their voters.

For example, I would like to vote for a certain politician of a certain
political party that has listened to me in the past. I don't agree with
all of his points of view but that doesn't matter. He used input from me
and many others to ask a question in parliament (it was about "Internet
Voor Iedereen" so you might already have guessed who I'm talking about).
But I can't vote for him because he lives in another province.
OTOH there is an European MP from the same political party who has done
some real bad things in the past concerning free software (saying no in
public but voting yes). That doesn't stop me from voting for that party.

There are also many, many other reasons to vote for a candidate or a
party, not only software topics. Use your common sense.
I have only one advice: vote for candidates, not for parties, and send an
email to the candidates telling them why you will vote for them. That's
what I'm doing.


Oh, by the way: the info on www.softwarepatenten.be is about European MPs.
We're not voting for the European parliament this time.

-- 
Amedee