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Old 16th March 2014
thirdm thirdm is offline
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Join Date: May 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roydd85 View Post
I understand that companies like Microsoft have all these back doors and don't respect the end users at all. I am also aware that things like regulation of the internet is almost always bad for the average person, organization, or small business and usually only benefits the Microsofts of the world and the politicians that they lobby. Is Richard Stallaman just crazy? I think he takes it too far and comes off as paranoid and a border line conspiracy theorist (nothing wrong with that) Do you guys agree? Do you think Stallman is right? Is Ubuntu even abusing their users as he says? Have we crossed that slippery slope?
I don't think he's crazy.

Are his ideas extreme? I dunno. Depends on which idea. The idea I'm most interested in is whether it's unethical to distribute software under terms other than those encompassed by his definition of free software (i.e. the four freedoms). So far I'm more or less in agreement that it's not ethical, but I differ as to the degree. To me it seems a very small moral transgression to distribute non-free software in exchange for money when the users involved seem not to care one way or the other. I won't disagree that software distributed that way is "an instrument of unjust power" but I have trouble seeing the severity of it the way he or Bradley Kuhn might, at least so far. So I'm not turning down jobs because they involve writing proprietary software, but all else being equal I'd rather take a job where the s/w gets sent out with some free license, and I donate money to the FSF.

I've only seen a few minor quips about Canonical from FSF people, and I don't pay much attention to Ubuntu. Do you have a link to where rms takes them to task for something?

Interesting choice of forums to discuss Richard Stallman. Honestly, when BSD people talk about him or license terms I tend to get alienated, but not enough to use a different O/S.
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