Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 17:16:13 -0700 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: Jon Hamilton <hamilton@pobox.com> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: What Linus said about FreeBSD Message-ID: <4.2.2.20000209165815.03e22a70@localhost> In-Reply-To: <20000209230436.A5D1E9B@woodstock.monkey.net> References: <Your message of "Wed, 09 Feb 2000 08:57:40 MST." <4.2.2.20000209084501.040ad6e0@localhost>
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At 04:04 PM 2/9/2000 , Jon Hamilton wrote: >} Seriously, being pro-BSD and opposing the GPL go hand in hand. > >Only if one is pro-BSD (and anti-GPL) for exactly the same reasons you are. I think we may just have to disagree on this. For me, and for many others, the very ESSENCE of BSD is the sort of programmer-friendly, supportive sharing that the GPL is intended to sabotage. Many of the best things that BSD has produced -- it can even be credited for the widespread success of the Internet itself -- would never have come to be if it were licensed under the GPL. >} When one points out the problems of the GPL, one is not "attacking >} others;" rather, one is helping others by exposing a deceitful and >} malicious agenda. That's a VERY positive thing. > >Funny how your positives so often couch themselves in vehement negativity. In life, it's often that way. For example, I think it's very positive to be free of pain, hunger, violent crime, etc. I'll fully admit that I am negative about it when people behave unethically or hurt one another needlessly. And I think is a very positive trait. >} Using or supporting the GPL, on the other hand, IS attacking others, >} since the GPL itself is intended to hurt people. > >You've taken your conclusion as given, and are arguing back from that point. That the GPL is intended to hurt people is, simply, beyond dispute. Richard Stallman has explicitly and repeatedly stated not only THAT it is designed to hurt people, but whom it is designed to hurt, and how. >} One of the memetic strengths of the Linux community and its leaders >} is that they have not only things that they promote but things that >} they firmly oppose. Such causes draw people together. One thing I see >} in the BSD community which hobbles its effectiveness is that some people >} in it refuse to take a stand, even against something like the GPL which >} is clearly hurtful and malicious. Perhaps this is what Linus was really >} saying. > >Because it is "clear" to you does not mean that everyone else who has >anything to do with *BSD agrees. I wish you would get that through your >head. It isn't a point that's subject to being argued. The author of the GPL has stated, many times, unambiguously, that this was his intent in creating it: to hurt programmers' livelihoods. I'd be glad to post some of the relevant material if you'd like. --Brett To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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