>If I am free to beat someone up that does not mean the sum total of  
>freedom for society is increased.

Sorry, pointlessness alert. There's _never_ a "freedom" to beat someone up, 
and--outside of the very limited contexts of, e.g., law enforcement or military 
activities--no one can grant one, so let's put this straw man to rest right 
away. Beating someone up is assault and battery, which are either misdemeanors 
or felonies, depending on the degree of severity, and you're never "free" to do 
either one.

Granting the freedom to extend a piece of code in whatever ways one's ingenuity 
allows, and do what one likes with those changes, doesn't take anything away 
from the original situation. If Apple takes BSD code and makes it do 
interesting things it couldn't before, you no worse off than you were before 
they did so, whether or not they share the source code for those changes with 
you.

Who do you imagine is getting "beaten up"? How are you "less free" as a result? 
If Apple's changes--and unwillingness to share--offend you, don't buy anything 
from 'em. If others don't mind, do you feel that you "know better" and should 
be able to restrict _their_ freedom to buy Apple's products...?

_______________________________________________
OpenMoko community mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community

Reply via email to