From: boscomonkey@...
Date: 2005-11-19T08:47:19+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby not commercial, right?

Thanks everyone for your input. I emailed the SFPL contact person an
appeal and used some of your wording verbatim (I attributed them in
footnotes). I did pass over the "inane" part. :-) I'm not sanguine that
this appeal will go anywhere, but it's always worth a try. Here's what
I sent:

Hi,

Thanks for touching base with me yesterday and explaining the rationale
behind the rejection of the Main Library meeting room for a Ruby
computer language meeting.

I believe that the main contention of your rejection lies in the
perception that the Ruby language is a commercial product (e.g.,
Microsoft Excel) and that allowing meetings that center around such
product will lead to commercial profit or gain to the maker of that
product.

Let me point out that Ruby[1] is an Open Source language originally
developed by a Japanese engineer and which has subsequently been
enhanced by other engineers all around the world. Being Open Source in
this case means that:

    * Ruby is free
    * As per its license[2], no one can charge royalties for its use
    * The intellectual property of Ruby has been placed in the public
domain.

Moreover, because Ruby is available for free on many different computer
platforms (e.g., Macintosh, Linux, PC), no one computer company will
benefit from its use over another computer company.

Another way of looking at this is to treat Ruby as a language like
French. Would a French language group be prohibited from using an SFPL
meeting room? Speaking French could bring one profit, but one one owns
the French language, and so no one stands to gain from the use of
French directly[3].

We at the San Francisco Ruby Meetup group[4] are advocating the use of
freely available software, have no method to gain financially from its
spread, and are simply trying to encourage the use of a free tool for
the gain of the community. We want to share our experiences with each
other and receive the same in return[5]. Our membership and events are
open to the general public.

Thank you for your consideration.

-- Bosco So

Notes:
[1] Ruby language home page - http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/
[2] Ruby's license - http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/LICENSE.txt
[3] Example communicated in the Ruby language discussion group
(alt.lang.ruby)
[4] SF Ruby Meetup group home page - http://ruby.meetup.com/6/
[5] Position communicated in alt.lang.ruby