On Thu, 2005-03-03 at 00:36 +0000, Sid Dabster wrote:
*** Proposal for a FLOSS/Linux Political Party ***
I suggest a Linux Party is formed to promote the idea of free software (and possibly related ideas). The last European Election with the patent issue showed the relevance of politics to the free software movement. Voting purely on patents lead to some undesirable alliance partners. While as LUG Radio noted, the patent issue did not brake through into the mainstream media. If free software is to gain mass use, we need decision makers and media to be more aware. A Linux party with a free post drop and media time will do this just as other single issue parties have.
Whilst I'm behind the ideology 100% I'm not sure forming a separate political party is the best way to go to achieve your aims.
Single issue parties have always performed badly (apart from one or two notable successes) mainly for the reason that by definition they are only interested in a couple of key points, where an elected leader is expected to deal with a wide range of social and political issues.
Even parties with single issues that are much more visible to the general public such as the Green party don't attract the votes of all their sympathisers because they don't want to 'waste' their vote on that single issue when there are more pressing issues to hand.
Please understand I'm not being defeatist here but there are better ways to make an impact.
Why not divert that energy and focus into canvassing MEPs from the main parties and bringing them around to start defending the rights of software developers and users by challenging software patents?
Rgds