Re: Adobe Reader 10

[quiliro]

Jean Louis <bugs@gnu.support> writes:
> I would send to government a letter that software is proprietary and
> not a standard, and that government is thus favoring proprietary
> company "Adobe" that is not even Canadian company -- I would ask for
> reasons why they are favoring foreign company whereby they cannot
> guarantee safety of users' data, as software is not free. I would ask
> if they have hidden agenda with Adobe and how much Adobe is paying to
> government -- or is it just a capricious decision of governments'
> official who simply did not know nothing better. There are forms that
> work with free software, and if I remember well I was using Evince to
> complete such without problems. I would tell them that using
> proprietary software impacts my freedom, as it controls my data
> without my consent and without possibility to inspect how it works, as
> it is not free software. Then I would tell them to provide PDF by
> standard that may be edited by software on various operating systems,
> and by free software and not just by the one specific Adobe version.
>
> Write a letter now, maybe you save thousands other people of the same
> problem. 
>
> Jean


These are great suggestions.  Jean is a very experienced and witty
person.  I would do as he said with just one modification.  I would make
the letter very friendly and respectful.  I have found bureaucrats are
very powerful and that their decision can influence government-wide
policies.  Big corporations know this and invite public officials to
play golf with world champions abroad, like happened here in Ecuador.
We cannot afford that, but we can certainly afford to be nice.  Maybe
true appreciation of people's internal value will sometimes win over
money and comfort.

Happy hacking!

Quiliro