Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 19:22:51 -0500 From: "G. Adam Stanislav" <zen@buddhist.com> To: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: The GBC and us Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.19990519192251.009728a0@mail.bfm.org> In-Reply-To: <4.2.0.37.19990519172059.0460df10@localhost> References: <3.0.6.32.19990519164120.00988a50@mail.bfm.org> <4.2.0.37.19990519133227.045d7cb0@localhost> <Pine.LNX.4.04.9905191229060.17489-100000@hades.riverstyx.n et> <Pine.BSF.4.00.9905191327060.4442-100000@super-g.inch.com>
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Yes, I agree on all that. Yes, I have read Communist Manifesto, I mean GNU Manifesto (actually I read both), and all that. But the question is how does it hurt us? We who program for FreeBSD do not use GPL. I have personally never released anything under GPL (and I have been releasing software for a long time, most of the time with source code), so how is Red Hat's use thereof going to hurt me or you or us in general? I mean, sure, everything anyone does influences us one way or another. But I believe the impact will be big on those who use GPL, but not as big (although there probably will be *some*) on the rest of us. Red Hat is giving up its freedom in the long run. But they are not taking ours with it. I mean, as I have said in this forum before, I do see parallels between Stallman and Stahlmann, between GNU and Communist ideology. But has Communist ideology hurt non-Communist countries? It decimated the economy, nay, the society, of Communist countries (I know, I grew up in one), and it certainly had some influence on the rest of the world, such as the Cold War, McCarthyism, Reaganomics, to name just a few. But it caused no considerable damage to the rest of the world, certainly peanuts compared to what it did to Communist countries. Perhaps in some ways it helped: It showed the rest of the world how precious freedom is, among other things. By the same token, the GPL will most likely drive refugees from the GBC (GNU Borg Collective) to the world of FreeBSD, since we really are the only viable alternative (at this time, anyway). The GNU ideology is "contra naturam" hence cannot go on forever. Nature always prevails. Adam P.S. Incidentally, I still see Stallman more as naive than as "evil." And, yes, I think his ideology is dangerous - to his followers. Just because Stallman may not think that programming has more value than making funny faces does not make it so. At 17:24 19-05-1999 -0600, Brett Glass wrote: >The goal of the GPL is to destroy markets and to destroy choice. It is >a weapon, crafted by Richard Stallman, against developers and vendors of >commercial software, against whom he has an abiding grudge. This grudge >began when the first commercial spinoff from the MIT AI Lab -- Symbolics -- >refused to give away all of their source code. > >Read Stallman's "GNU Manifesto" for more. The section about programming >being no more valuable than "standing on a corner making funny faces" >is particularly telling. > >--Brett Glass --- Want to design your own web counter? Get GCL 2.10 from http://www.whizkidtech.net/gcl/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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