Subject: The BSDFreak issue, and where to go from here
To: None <netbsd-advocacy@netbsd.org>
From: Charles M. Hannum <abuse@spamalicious.com>
List: netbsd-advocacy
Date: 02/14/2005 19:40:08
Here's how I see it...
Someone decides, owing to a lack of official merchandise, to start selling
NetBSD logo merchandise to the public. He claims that he will donate the
profits to the projects -- and although we perhaps haven't seen a check yet
(not that I would know, nor has any official statement been made to such
effect), we have NO REASON TO BELIEVE HE WON'T.
I'll get back to the check in a moment. The most important point here is
that, as a project, HE'S DOING US A FAVOR by propagating the NetBSD image and
message.
So, how do we respond? We send him what comes off as a cease-and-desist
letter. No, I'm not interested in nitpicking "what it actually said;" the
fact is, the IP Stick was waved. It shouldn't have been. The people
responsible for the original letter created a hostile situation where there
should not have been one. They f**ked up, period.
The thing to do at this point is to apologize, publicly. No "but we were
right and he was wrong" or any other such bullshit -- an actual apology, for
making threatening gestures. Anything short of that leaves you with the
image of being a bully. And that image is actively damaging to the project.
Get over yourselves and do the right thing for NetBSD. And for <deity>'s
sake, stop making the hole deeper!
As for "the check," the way to approach this would have been a query more
like: "Hey, on your site you say you're going to donate the profits back to
NetBSD. How do you plan to make this donation? We haven't seen anything
yet."