[Freedombox-discuss] Introductions

[Joshua Spodek]

Hi,

I'm Josh. I've been using free software since first using gcc getting my
PhD in physics in 1993 and installing Redhat in 1996. I wrote some
software for my start-up, but I've written only a few thousand lines of
code in the past decade.

I've been in touch with Eben Moglen for a few years since he gave me
advice on another startup. I've also known Biella Coleman since college.
I read about Eben's talk on Slashdot, then contacted him about it after
I read about Diaspora, telling him I keep a few spare cycles in my
schedule for projects like this.

I'm first and foremost interested in helping a project that maintains
privacy and control over one's data and enabling web services like
social networking, chatting, etc. Since I don't code and do now have an
MBA, I'm also interested in business issues for a project with its
unique properties like

      * How will companies/governments/etc affected by the project
        contribute, compete, or otherwise interact? How can we act now
        to make things best then?
      * How will the hardware be distributed?
      * How will consumers who don't know they care about freedom learn
        to favor a Freedom Box over alternatives?
      * How can we foster entrepreneurial activity around the Freedom
        Box while maintaining freedom? While I believe Diaspora or
        something like it may end up a killer app, I can also imagine it
        might be another we haven't dreamed of yet.
      * More, but those are the ones I can think of now

I know issues like these are distant now, and I'm not suggesting we
discuss them here at this stage, but they seem inevitable.

I should mention one of the interactions that led to my believing in the
potential of this project was when I mentioned Diaspora to business
school friends, the same people who never understood why I never used
Excel or Word (in favor of Openoffice.org) all agreed without
explanation why a decentralized Facebook made sense.

Josh