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Old 20th March 2014
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Swen Tnavelerri
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 45
Default Stallman

In some ways, he's fighting the good fight. Without him, we'd all be thoroughly hosed. Think about it - all software would by now have been copyrighted or patented by megaliths. He's provided a large scale hedge against that sort of end game, and has been doing so since the 80s. On the other hand, it's pretty hard to make money on service subscriptions. Just ask the Sear's rep about his hardware service and insurance agreement quotas. So, I guess it's like Stallman could be saying to us, "don't make your money in software" - software is like a community road that we all build only to get to our offices, factories, shops, and eateries - those places where we *really* make our living.

That's where I find myself in some disagreement. I want to have my cake and eat it too. I favor a situation where my proprietary software company does not have unfair market advantage (i.e., it's small or medium sized) - and there is enough competition to keep my dealings with customers fair and respectable. But - that's not the real world. In the real world, the megaliths have taken over, and the legal systems absolutely bend to their sway in order to tip the field against all but a few.

If governments would cease with the unfair patronization of the few (software patents, in particular) - then Stallman would have less need to be what some call "extreme". He's highly polarized because "they" are - and he sees his stance as the only thing that brings about equilibrium. Sad, to say the least, but it' the reflection of humankind that makes it necessary.

Oh - I should add the thing I *really* was going to say. Our attempts to make the software secure are all well and good, but in some ways moot and futile: it's the network that's compromised.
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