Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 20:19:26 -0600 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: jgrosch@superior.mooseriver.com, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: O'Reilly still supporting FSF exclusively Message-ID: <199807270219.UAA12122@lariat.lariat.org> In-Reply-To: <19980726185504.A18569@mooseriver.com> References: <199807270004.SAA10226@lariat.lariat.org> <199807270004.SAA10226@lariat.lariat.org>
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At 06:55 PM 7/26/98 -0700, Josef Grosch wrote: >I have been following the discussion over the last week about the Open >Source Town Meeting. I understand you are unhappy with O'Reilly's choice of >recipient of the funds raised by this meeting. I must say I do have a lot >of sympathy for your position but I must urge caution and moderation. There >is a lot of reason for the Linux, FreeBSD, GNU, FSF, OpenBSD, NetBSD (did I >forget anybody) to snipe at each other. But I must remind you that these >people are not the enemy. The enemy is microsoft. I guess I have to disagree here. The purpose of FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, etc. is not and SHOULD not be to "defeat" any private entity, no matter how nefarious. The primary goal of all of these projects must be to produce quality software which others can use and build upon. To declare these efforts to be "anti-Microsoft" is to trivialize them and make them seem spiteful. Yes, Microsoft's dominance and unscrupulous behavior are a problem. However, we should not seek to "torpedo" Microsoft -- or any other entity, for that matter -- but merely to level the playing field. I, for one, would have no problems with Microsoft if it competed fairly. >We got into a factional >fight back in the 80's and 90's and in the end we, the Unix community, got >fucked not billy gates. We would be better off organizing and finding >common ground rather than fight amongst ourselves. Unfortunately, the FSF -- itself taken by surprise by the success of Linux -- has allowed that success to go to its head. It does not feel that it NEEDS the support of any other member of the Open Source community, and deprecates and consistently works against most of the others. It has, in essence, ambitions similar to Microsoft's, only in the realm of Open Source software -- and its license, the GPL, reflects this "imperialism." If we truly want to see a level playing field in the Open Source arena, we MUST protest when we find players such as O'Reilly supporting the FSF's "our way or no way" tactics. It is especially important to establish such ground rules early on. It will soon be too late. >Remember there is >strength in numbers. I urge you to focus that good energy you have toward >organizing and focusing on your common enemy. Again, the "common enemy" should not be Microsoft. If you feel that there must be a "common enemy," then that enemy should be anyone who attempts to prevent fair and free competition in any realm. And, I regret to say, the FSF falls into this category. --Brett Glass To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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