[Foundation-l] Answers.com tool released

Wed Apr 12 19:41:03 UTC 2006

On 4/12/06, Tim Starling <t.starling at physics.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> If Wikimedia really needs money, it should just put some discreet, well chosen advertising on the
> site. Better to advertise some random debt consolidation firm than a company so openly hostile to
> the goals of the free software movement.

It's funny... back when this came up before, it was suggested that
someone make a free software simmlar tool, and I believe some work was
begun in that direction.

Will answers.com next sue the authors of this software?

When we lay down with dogs we risk getting fleas.

I too would rather see 'at arms length' advertising issued out to the
highest bidder, rather than oddball favors for donations deals with
potentially unethical orginizations which seems now to be the case
with answers.com.

But... As far as I'm concerned, the advertising/funding issue is
orthorgnal... It is my understanding that If we put up advertising our
'secondary income' will be so great that it will break out tax
status... I'm not particularly pleased with the way things went with
the mozilla foundation.

I'd been convinced that the answers.com deal was okay, until this
patent issue came around... and honestly I'd though that it had put a
break on our plans since I hadn't heard anything for so long, I'm
disappointed to see it go in right now.