From owner-freebsd-questions Fri May 15 12:08:37 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id MAA19252 for freebsd-questions-outgoing; Fri, 15 May 1998 12:08:37 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from smtp.enteract.com (thor.enteract.com [206.54.252.9]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id MAA19233 for ; Fri, 15 May 1998 12:08:19 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from tkim@mcs.net) Received: (qmail 7817 invoked from network); 15 May 1998 19:08:15 -0000 Received: from azathoth-36.d.enteract.com (HELO mcs.net) (207.229.149.84) by thor.enteract.com with SMTP; 15 May 1998 19:08:15 -0000 Message-ID: <355C9288.672ED9FD@mcs.net> Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 14:07:52 -0500 From: Anthony Kim Organization: deus ex machina X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (WinNT; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: commercial software (definitive) References: X-Corel-MessageType: EMail Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Rather than illogical, the matter is ideological. I won't venture to guess the impact of free software philosophy on the global economy--but I admire its intent. That which benefits huamnkind ought to be freely accessible. Now "ought to be" is not the same as "legally bound to be" and we are opening up a crusty canister of philosophical worms in discussing these issues. Now, I wouldn't propose socialism (which is beautiful in theory, but unjust in practice), but I admire the purity and spirit of GNU philosophy. A billion people may disagree. So I leave it as a matter of taste, intuition, and altruism. rgds, Anthony Jonathan Fosburgh wrote: > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > > If some of you are still questioning yourself, it's good. If not, you > > should take a look, just a little peek, about 3 or 4 minutes read, at this > > URL. it's the GNU home, which have interesting answers about commercial > > software. > > > > http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html > > > > Have a nice day. > This has got to be one of the most illogical things I have ever read. To claim > that people can exercise no claim of property on the results of their hard > labour is absurd. If I write a program it exists because *I* had the ability to > write it and *I* saw it's potential usefulness, or because *I* simply wanted to > write it. If I choose to sell it for profit that is my business and I am > entitled to as much money as a free market is willing to pay for it. If I > choose to give it away free, subject to any restrictions I may wish to impose, > then that is also my business. > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Jonathan Fosburgh |We shall not cease from exploration > jef53313@bayou.uh.edu, |And the end of all our exploring > wotan@scientist.com |Will be to arrive where we started from > |And know the place for the first time. > www.geocities.com/vienna/1498 | > Undergraduate Geophysics |T.S. Eliot, > University of Houston |The Four Quartets > ******************************************************************************* > I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- > that I will never live for the sake of another man > nor ask another man to live for mine. > > Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged > ******************************************************************************* > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: 2.6.2 > > iQBVAwUBNVxgS/x1aCmcyaTdAQGyOwIAuFt8adHIclF3mWUEXA8z+13VWsnvgeo1 > TdjA1D2Nunb1dlunGSTWf8ACi9Y2N6Fk11SLfWzJ4XZD0gYxMhDbyA== > =bGsU > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message -- "The conclusion I have reached is that reading is an operation without object; or that its true object is itself." --Italo Calvino "First and foremost, I think of myself as a reader." --Borges To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message