[Foundation-l] free software policies

[Joe Corneli]

Hi All:

I'm still riding the wave of enjoyment I caught at
Wikimania in Gdansk, thanks for that :).

One of the topics that came up in my conversations
there had to do with Wikimedia's policies surrounding
free software.

It is my view that a good portion of 'the sum of all
knowledge' is currently embodied in software and
programming practice.  At the same time, I know
that access to knowledge is often done 'by any
means necessary'.

Given the potential for confusion and even frustration
when rights and responsibilities aren't clear, I think it
would be great if the foundation had some clear policies
about how it will invest in software development.

I note that this year's GNU Hackers Meeting is taking place
very soon; http://www.gnu.org/ghm/2010/denhaag/ --
Personally I'd love it if future Wikimanias could be
co-located with or otherwise bridged with GNU meetings.

Joe