On Tue, Jan 08, 2008 at 02:06:31PM -0500, Richard Stallman wrote: > So you are basically saying that being a bum is ethical. > > I see nothing wrong with it, but recall that "bum" means a person who > does no useful work. I work most of my waking hours, and the people > who support me in various ways do so because they appreciate my work.
I am sure some people appreciate their windshields being cleaned for $1. I am also sure some people are happy they can buy a rose at a traffic light. It still is not considered useful and even legal work. It is up to the beholder to determine if it is useful or not. I'd say that you ranting on my lists is not useful work. > > "Bum" also implies a person who asks for handouts. When hosts pay for > my meals, they do so by their own initiative. I do not ask > individuals to give anything to me personally, but some wish to. Sure, I give might be inclined to have my windshield washed for $1 too. Don't see any difference. > > It is ok to use someone else's cell phone but it is not ok to have your > own. > > Exactly. If you carry a cell phone, the system tracks you. If you > borrow someone else's cell phone and make a call, that confuses the > tracking records. As a person who believes in the dictionary definition of liberty and freedom (that is not you btw) I am sensitive to this tracking argument however it is completely besides the point. You are bumming someone else's gear that was paid for with blood money and call that A OK. I find that odd at best. > > It is ok to use someone else's windows machine but it is not ok to have > your > own. > > If I wanted to be totally rigid, I would say that people shouldn't use > a Windows machine even for a minute. But I don't see a need to be so > inflexible. If you use someone else's machine for a little while, I > don't think you are doing any harm. You can't migrate it to free > software. The person who owns or controls the machine is the one who > ought to do that. Again you are talking about something different. I am talking about you bumming other people's resources. Unethical resources no less. > > It is ok to write software and give it away but it is not ok to make a > living writing software. > > A circuit is a circuit when it has a flash part but not if it doesn't. > > Please recheck my previous mail for what I actually said. I honestly don't understand what you are talking about. Let me break down how I understand your point. 1. NIC with flash/ROM good 2. Same NIC without flash/ROM bad Is that what you are saying?
