| Follow @melaniechernoff
Raleigh, NC
Melanie Chernoff | As Public Policy Manager for Red Hat, Inc., Melanie monitors, evaluates, and works to influence U.S. and international legislation and government regulations affecting open source technologies and open standards. She also serves as chair of the company's Corporate Citizenship committee, coordinating Red Hat's charitable activities.
Authored Comments
Hi Jim,
My point about us all not being invited to the table at the time is that, regardless of the inclusive language of both the Declaration & the Constitution, the only people invited to participate in our new country's government in the 18th century were white men. I agree with you that many people today choose not to be "at the table" in both open government or in open source projects. That's a different issue. But the question was whether the drafting of the Declaration was an early form of open government, and given that women, Native Americans, African Americans, etc. had no voice or choice in the process, I think it's hard to argue that it was very open at the time.
Exactly what I said in my first comment. ;-)