On Sunday, Sep 28, 2003, at 19:34 US/Eastern, Barak Pearlmutter wrote:
I'm not sure I follow your reasoning there.
You gave the "lemmings" argument (everyone else does X, so so should we). He pointed out that in certain circumstances where everyone else ignores non-freeness X, we don't.
The difference between B and C here is that firmware without source denies to users their fundamental right to understand and modify the software that controls their computer. Similarly, the non-free xfonts-scalable-nonfree do not allow distribution of modified versions. This denies to a user who has modified such a font in order to improve the function of his computer the right to help his friends improve their displays as well. No such problems occur with "snippets."
It appears to me that you've arbitrarily decided this. The license on the GNU Manifesto denies modification as well; this denies the user who has modified the GNU Manifesto to be Bob's Manifesto the right to distribute it, too.
The same applies to the person who wants to modify the heart-wrenching message from the cancer victim to express his own troubles with cancer. Or heart disease. Or anything else.
Why should a essay be any different than a computer program, a font, or documentation?
