Caveat Emptor: these are my opinions and not the "official" opinions of
the club. Feel free to disagree.
On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, Yoni Rabkin Katzenell wrote:
>
> First let me say that I like the new Web site very much. It does my
> heart good to see valid HTML in a well structured Web site.
>
Thanks!
> Now on to my questions:
>
> Why is Haifux called a Linux club and not a GNU/Linux club?
>
Well, Haifa Linux Club sounds much better than Haifa GNU/Linux Club. I
don't think it is wrong to call a Linux system a "Linux system" and not a
"GNU/Linux system. It's shorter, and everyone will know what you mean.
GNU/Linux is longer, for no particularly good reason, and so makes little
sense in common use. (some people would even pronounce it
gee-en-you-slash-lee-nox. - oh the humanity!).
I don't have anything against using the term "GNU/Linux". Sometimes I use
it to say that I want a nice Linux system with everything installed instead of
something that has the kernel and nothing besides. But I don't use it
consistently where appropriate.
> What is Haifux's official stance on software licenses? Are we just going
> with the flow or should we take a stance and say "We at Haifux believe
> that software licensed under the GNU/GPL and compatible licenses promote
> collaboration, cooperation and the advancement of software development
> both for the individual and the software industry."?
>
I hold the opinion that writing any sofware for any purpose is highly
moral (as all software like that can be written) and just its use may be
contreversial. I think most software in the world if distributed to the
public, used in Embedded systems, etc. increases the well-being of the
world.
I like GNU/Linux better because it's superior than Windows. Technically. I
also prefer free software over non-free software because I can better rely
on it available and because I can only blame myself if it doesn't work
right, because the code is available for me to fix. Otherwise, I have used
proprietary software in the past, am using it now (including to write this
E-mail) and may use such that seem nice or interesting, or useful. Some
commercial software is much superior than any of its open source
equivalents, and some software has such a small market that it is not of
the public interest to produce an open source equivalent. And some
proprietary software is just very nice and convenient.
As for the GPL vs. other free software licenses: when contributing to a
GPLed program, I kept my patches as GPLed. (naturally). For my own progams
I have consistently used public-domain licenses. (like MIT X11). I used to
be flavourgusted from the GPL complexity and mock it in any way I could.
Now I realize it is important to make sure some software remains free and
not abused. (and many very large commercial entities like IBM, HP, Sun,
and even non-IT companies that actively use GNU/Linux agree with me).
I can tell you of one project where if I used GPL, it would have made it
dead-on-arrival, and I'm glad I used the public domain.
The mileage of other members here may vary, and we are not going to
enforce a public opinion on everybody. (we are not GPL nazis).
> Was there a vote taken some time in the past? Did people decide to go
> the OSI way? If so why is there no link to the OSI's web page.
>
Links.. links. I think we should have much more links, but of course
someone has to take the time and send the patch.
> I was quite surprised to find that the site does not even contain a link
> to www.gnu.org, not even in the "Linux Links" section.
>
:-)
> Is this they way we want people curious about Linux to go? Why should we
> keep them ignorant of the history and the licenses that make
> collaboration possible? If not to actively support the FSF with words on
> the site and with the group's official title, then at least we can give
> a single HTML link to their site.
>
I will gladly link to the Free Software Foundation. I think we definetly
should. However, I'd also like a link to the Open Source Initiative,
because they are also an integral part of the Free and Open Source
Software culture. We could also use many other links. (but not too many,
because too many links are confusing)
Nevertheless, Haifux is not an arm of the FSF, and does not represent its
causes. Some of our members do agree with some of these opinions. Some of
our members just use Linux because it works and do not care too much about
its ideology. The last thing I want is some kind of FSF-like draconian
homogenia.
> BTW I've donned my asbestos body armor prior to posting so feel free to
> flame me to a crisp. My FSF associate membership card (#1250) will
> protect me!
>
Heh heh. My
"in-for-free-beer-and-just-someone-who-prefers-free-software-over-the-
rest-and-thinks-it-is-usually-superior-or-becomes-so" membership card
(Number is confidential), has much higher stats than yours. So now I have
both... ;-)
Regards,
Shlomi Fish
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomi Fish [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Home Page: http://t2.technion.ac.il/~shlomif/
You are banished! You are banished! You are banished!
Hey? I'm just kidding!
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