2010/9/23 Praseed Pai <[email protected]> > >I was referring to your quote above. What I meant was RMS did much more than > >>advocating "the prefix GNU before the Linux Operating System (Kernel )". > >Read about >things happened from GNU project starting in 1984 to around 1990 > >when Linus Torvalds >released Linux kernel. It would help you understand > >more about RMS and his >contributions. He wrote GCC and Emacs originally. > > > > > I do know that GCC C compiler and Emacs was written by RMS. I really like the > RTL concept of GCC and Embedding of Lisp under Emacs etc. > > I do not have any doubt regarding the relevance of RMS in the FOSS world. I > also believe that Linux kernel got too much emphasis and stallman's GNU > movement provided 90% of the original software for Linux distros in the early > 90s. Thus the term (re)gained. The stuff he "lost" was regained and i added a > qualifier legitimate as well. > > Your interpretation was not correct here.
I accept I was wrong here. > >FSF does not prefer non-copyleft license because it does not guarantee > >Freedoms to >every user for example, some one can take BSD licensed code and > >chose not to give >source code to their users. Microsoft uses BSD's TCP/IP > >stack in Windows, but >Windows users don't get source code. On the other > >hand Microsoft released drivers for >Linux kernel, because Linux kernel is > >under GPL (you can argue about their motivation >though) > > You are arguing on the "legalise" here. Fact of the matter is, some of us in > this group (including me ) have not differentiated CopyLeft and FSF advocacy. > The fourth freedom (freedom #3 ) cannot be maintained by BSD ( when it is > optional ) and other licenses. I believe that differentiation is important. It clarifies some basic issues and clarity avoids confusion. > There is a "war" going on between BSD/MIT proponents and RMS about the idea > of Free Software. The first group feel that they "invented it". RMS invented > CopyLeft , but Free software movement was here before. RMS is responsible for > making this a global stuff touching the lives of many. Again you are confused here. The war is not between BSD/MIT proponents and RMS. But RMS is opposing any non-free software included in Free Operating systems. Again your reading it as against BSD/MIT is coming from your lack of understanding of the difference between copyleft and FSF advocacy/Free Software. He criticises linux kernel as well for including binary only blobs. FSF recommends only a selected set of distribution who commits to including only Free Software and which even removes blobs from linux kernel. BSD was not Free Software before RMS started GNU project. If it was Free software then, he did not have to start the GNU project. Your misunderstanding of what you call "legalese" led you to a totally wrong conclusion. RMS does not differentiate between Linux and BSD based on license. Ask Siju if FSF recommends Debian or Fedora because they are under GPL. It is the same issue for Debian as well as BSD. > >I don't know why winelib develops heat. BSDs may be because of non-copyleft > >nature, but >it shouldn't generate much heat. > > > I have used WineLib to port a lot of Applications from Windows to Linux. I > posted a link from my blog here and it became the "POLLAND" ( Sandhesham > fame ) of this group. Even though many claim to be "free software fan boys", many might be sharing the same confusion. Many of them might not be understanding Free Software issue to its nuances. One request to every one here is to read original or consult internet before tall claims. Another thing is to accept the fact that we all can make mistakes. So when we make mistake, accept it instead of vehemently defending it. One more thing, for many Free Software is a passion. When we discuss passionately, sometimes emotions can flare up. It is some kind of belief as well for many, so it might not go well if someone questions it. > The mention of Windows might have irritated some here ( That post made me > understand the difference between ILUG as i thought and ILUG (Especially what > is meant by "Libre" ). I would say don't generalise like that. It means the personal opinions of those responded. Did I respond like them? Many are silent as well. > >Our country has probably largest number of programmers, but without > >philosophy, we >can't get more contributors to Free Software. > > > The native language of Linux is C subset of C++. It's tool chain , > programming model are based on the POSIX/ANSI standards. To contribute , we > need to look into these stuff along with advocacy. Programming is obviously one way to contribute and linux kernel is one such project. But there is much more to contribution than just coding and linux kernel. People can help in translation, documentation, tech support, advocacy, bug reporting, donations ... > > I think , there is difference of opinion only in the matter of Path. Yes, and about priorities. I think , make people > use more and more FOSS software by developing it. Ask Windows programmers to > choose GNU Linux as a development platform. Convince the companies about > merits > of GNU Linux and it's economics etc. > > Once FOSS reaches critical mass , we have got our promised land. That is a two stage approach (first let them use, then we will talk about freedom), and it seems like a good idea. But the problem is many people stop at first stage. They just use Free Software and does not understands the philosophy. Well, that is good enough for many. But not to RMS or FSF. They believe we need to teach people to respect their freedoms. Because we are still not won or at the promised land. We can't be complacent. > I believe "LAKSHYA" is more important than "MARGA". > Some believe "MARGA" is more important than "LAKSHYA". I agree it is about beliefs. You can have your own and I can have mine. I believe MARGA is also important. > By following the latter ,"Software Parasites" can maintain the issue in > the public perception to gain personal mileage. I don't think it is about gaining personal mileage. -- പ്രവീണ് അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് You have to keep reminding your government that you don't get your rights from them; you give them permission to rule, only so long as they follow the rules: laws and constitution. _______________________________________________ Indian Libre User Group Cochin Mailing List http://www.ilug-cochin.org/mailing-list/ http://mail.ilug-cochin.org/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_ilug-cochin.org #[email protected]
