Please let me apologise in advance for the controversial political
statements contained within this posting, and for any offence that I may
cause to others by the inappropriateness of my comments. As has already
been pointed out in an earlier thread, it really should not be discussed
here in this forum.
Dominik Vogt wrote:
>
> Let me make some comments to the issues that have come up.
>
> 1) My motivation is by no means political. It is solely based on
> moral. I can not bear that my work is misused to kill people.
> I do not mean to punish or antagonise anybody, but I am trying
> to save myself.
>
I applaud and admire your strength in having the courage to stand by
your convictions. I have often wondered how many open source software
development projects have been unknowingly contributing to the
persecution, torture, rape, and murder of millions of innocent civilians
by oppressive ruthless despotic regimes, or even secretive terrorist
organisations, but I guess there's no real way to tell is there?
Personally I would also include media organisations as they seem to be
gaining greater benefits from this "unjust" war than anybody. It has
been in their own interests to fan the flames of protest and dissent,
and distort the facts with hypothesis and hyperbole in the guise of
"information", and thereby knowingly participate in the distribution of
propaganda from all aspects of the discussions now taking place. Is
there anything the media empires wont do for a headline?
> 2) I am fully aware that such a change of the license will make
> it impossible to ship fvwm as part of Debian and other Linux
> distributions.
>
And thereby alienate more distributions and further contribute to the
demise of fvwm's popularity.
> 3) Given the results of similar wars in the past, I do not think
> the license will last only for a short period of time, but for
> years (i.e. many thousand civilians killed, like in
> Afghanistan, Kosovo, etc.).
>
Given the recent advancements in modern warfare technology I don't think
any comparisons with other conflicts can be justified as being "valid".
In Afghanistan (the most recent) the terrain and tactics were entirely
different, and there was no clear distinctive method of identifying "the
enemy" as they wore civilian clothes and often (and possibly still do)
posed as innocent civilians.
In Kosovo the practice of ethnic cleansing was a primary motivation for
U.N. intervention. In both conflicts widespread civilian casualties were
the direct result of the actions of the original aggressors, which is
apparently what Saddam also intends by strategically placing as many
military targets as possible behind innocent human shields, and thereby
invoking world wide outrage at the high cost of "collateral damage".
Having said that however, it does nobody any good to expect or theorise
what the outcome will be. Only time will tell, and history will be the
final judge.
> 4) I am thinking about allowing to "buy" the right to use fvwm by
> making a donation to one of the mentioned non-government
> organisations, for example Amnesty International. I assume
> that nobody accepting or helping the war will do this. I trust
> people's common sense when they decide the actual sum to
> donate (of course other forms of donations are accepted too).
>
This may actually be a good idea in peace time as well as in war. A
donation to any charitable organisation is surely welcome always.
> 5) Determining a way how the license can cooexist with the GPL is
> a very delicate matter. It will take time to write down a
> water-proof license.
>
You may not have as much time as you think to decide this as most
analysts predict a "short war" (whatever that means).
> 6) In case I can not find a license I currently see the only the
> option to completely cease contributing to the open source
> community.
>
This would most certainly be a great loss indeed. Your insights and
contributions have been considerable, and I am convinced that fvwm in
particular would not be the outstanding example of the achievements of
co-operative open source software development that it is today, without
the benefit of your wisdom and guidance over the many years of
leadership that you have given freely and generously, without thought of
reward or recompense. Whatever your decision may be, I sincerely wish
you well.
> Thank everybody for the comments. I *am* listening to all
> complaints, suggestions, etc.
>
> Bye
>
> Dominik ^_^ ^_^
> --
Finally, to paraphrase the Buddah, "All life depends on suffering."
Humans have flourished by eating the flesh of animals. Governments have
flourished by consuming the wealth of their populations. One cannot
blame the gun that kills. Nor can one lay blame on the hand that crafted
the weapon. It is the hand that wields the weapon that must be judged.
Not the weapon's creator. These are the very same issues that the
scientists who worked on the now infamous Manhatten Project were facing.
No sane human being would want a war! Would they?
Robert Nation began the development of fvwm while working on a military
project which required certain attributes from the window manager that
were lacking at the time. Does that mean that fvwm's development has
been tainted all this time?
I hope my arguments here, from purely an uninformed user's perspective
have helped, and not confused or clouded the issues confronting you. I
once again, whatever your decision, most sincerely wish you well, now,
and in the future.
Alex
--
Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.
-- Maya Angelou, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
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