Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 07:37:58 -0500 From: Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org> To: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: RMS: A threat to society? Message-ID: <15273.58150.984582.17112@guru.mired.org> In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20010919213131.04442ee0@localhost> References: <disndi53bf.ndi@localhost.localdomain> <20010912215547.98067.qmail@web20806.mail.yahoo.com> <01091219512600.11358@proxy.the-i-pa.com> <20010912225428.A9675@citusc17.usc.edu> <4.3.2.7.2.20010913021952.045974f0@localhost> <4.3.2.7.2.20010913185102.0497c9e0@localhost> <15266.22869.722204.601040@guru.mired.org> <3BA3248D.5E47FDC9@mindspring.com> <4.3.2.7.2.20010918092037.046e2a90@localhost> <200109191347.f8JDl5i21378@dungeon.home> <4.3.2.7.2.20010919213131.04442ee0@localhost>
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> >OK, the issue here is that GPL does genuinely give you those freedoms, > >except there are extra catches. > "Extra catches" are part and parcel of deceptive practices the world > over. The most egregious example I know of of such "extra catches" are those associated with walking into a store to buy some commercial software. Turns out that you almost never actually buy software - what you buy is a box, some documentation, and disks with software that you now have a license to use. The license almost inevitably makes it illegal to do things that you could do if you had actually done what the producer and retailer said you were doing, and bought the software. The more such things the license makes illegal, the more deceptive the practice. Many such licenses allow the producer to revoke your license to use the software without compensation! On that basis, the GPL is much less deceptive - and hence presumably more honest and moral - than most commercial software licenses. The various BSD licenses are even better, and the only ones that come anywhere close to letting the user "own the software." While I'm posting, I'd like to point out that Terry's subject is ambiguous - he failed to specify which "society" he was talking about. That can lead to confusion. For example, Islamic terrorists are no threat to Islamic society. The same thing applies to RMS. Since the vast majority of people in the world don't have access to a computer, he's clearly no threat to most of society. Limiting things to the society of software producers, the last time it got thrashed out the conclusion was that the only people really threatened by RMS et. al. were Bill Gates wannabes. <mike -- Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/ Q: How do you make the gods laugh? A: Tell them your plans. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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