Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 20:31:40 -0600 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: A fortune(6) candidate (was: No port of Opera?) Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20000706201432.04823970@localhost> In-Reply-To: <20000707070950.A12730@physics.iisc.ernet.in> References: <4.3.2.7.2.20000706190153.04838520@localhost> <53082.962927902@localhost> <4.3.2.7.2.20000706103005.00e05660@localhost> <53082.962927902@localhost> <20000706174440.A8752@sofia.csl.sri.com> <4.3.2.7.2.20000706190153.04838520@localhost>
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At 07:39 PM 7/6/2000, Rahul Siddharthan wrote: >It stuns me, the logic is so obvious and inevitable -- the GPL is evil, The correct word is "unethical." The word "evil" implies unthinking condemnation, whereas "unethical" implies (correctly) that it violates universal ethical standards. >therefore linux is evil, A piece of code cannot be "evil" per se. However, Linux serves to increase the scope of the FSF's power and influence and to spread the GPL. It is thus an instrumentality of the FSF and its unethical agenda. >therefore it's like Microsoft, No. It is the FSF, not Linux, which is like Microsoft. Look at the similarities: a) It engages in predatory and unethical business practices; b) It is controlled by a leader who has all the money he desires but has an insatiable lust for control and power; and c) It seeks complete dominance of the realm of software. >therefore it >will take the first opportunity to "pull the rug out from under the >emulator by adding or changing APIs" and "hose" FreeBSD The Linux camp is highly fanatical in its quest for dominance and equally so in its jihad against commercial software vendors. The more radical members of this group -- incluing Richard Stallman and Bruce Perens -- openly express frustration at the presence of the BSDs, saying that they weaken the effects of the FSF's anti-business agenda by providing open source code which commercial developers can use. To counter this effect, the zealous leaders of this group often bash FreeBSD and seek to undermine it in other ways as well. Of course, if they were clever, they'd make it very EASY for FreeBSD to emulate Linux, so as to further undermine FreeBSD's chances of getting native ports. But some in the Linux camp are likely to mistakenly believe that emulation is good for FreeBSD, just as some here do. And these people may say, "Look! They're emulating us! We've got to stop that!" If this occurs, they may try to make emulation difficult -- perhaps via patents, perhaps via tightening the licensing, or perhaps by making the API a moving target (a la Microsoft). In any event, as long as FreeBSD relies upon emulation to run key apps, it's a real risk. --Brett To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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