Re: Adobe Reader 10

[J Leslie Turriff]

On 2021-03-18 09:33:25 quiliro wrote:
> 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
>
        I would suggest as well that the most important part of the argument 
does not turn on
the 'openness' of the software per se, but on the issue of excluding citizens' 
access to
their government's resources.  Many of the people who make software selection 
decisions
are still unaware that there are more than just Windows and OS-X systems in the 
world.
We need to help them become more aware of this.

Leslie

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