2008/12/13 Jayson <[email protected]>: > This is the exact question I have. I believe open source and free > software brings a lot of benefits to the table. I also think that we > should fight things such as "software patents". But when it comes to > use of 'proprietary software' we need to be pragmatic. What irritates
Everyone has his choice to be pragmatic (Open Source) or idealistic (Free Software) or in between (FOSS). But all Free Software community asks is not to mix us these and don't use pragmatic values to represent Free Software. Both of them are separate movements and work together on common issues like software patents. As much you have the freedom to be pragmatic, you can't force us to be pragmatic either. But at the same time, both of us can debate why what we believe is better. And work together keeping the differences. We do that all the time. We don't have to agree on everything. We just have to work on things both of us agree to. > me is the fanatical behavior seen (Novell protest comes to my mind). A > guy even suggested that I am traitor simply because I said I use some > of the 'proprietary software'! You are mixing up things and being unclear about issues. As you mentioned earlier about the patent menace, it is a big issue and what Novell did to the patent equation was very damaging to the community. Novell's deal gave legitimacy to Microsoft's patents claims on Free Software and it divided the community between those who pay royalties to Microsoft and those who do not. It was clearly a deal that went against the spirit of the GPL and community had to come up with better wording in GPLv3. And what is your position with respect the the Novell-Microsoft deal? Do you support it? > > Freedom to me also includes my ability to choose what is best for me. Nobody is questioning that. Free Software is about choosing what is ethically right for the society. You may disagree with, that is perfectly OK. But don't tell we should change our values. We can work together on issues that concerns both of us keeping our differences. -- പ്രവീണ് അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് <GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call! <DRM> What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak? (as seen on /.) Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ "Freedom is the only law". "Freedom Unplugged" http://www.ilug-tvm.org You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ilug-tvm" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For details visit the website: www.ilug-tvm.org or the google group page: http://groups.google.com/group/ilug-tvm?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
