chip@ateng.ateng.com (Chip Salzenberg) (10/14/88)
According to zgel05@apctrc.UUCP (George E. Lehmann): >In article <259@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> jbrown@jato.UUCP (Jordan Brown) writes: >>I agree completely with somebody who said that we (USENET, BBSes, etc) >>simply should not be depending on a commercial product. > ^^^^^^^^^^ >Forget the needs of the people who write commercial software to make a buck >to pay mortgages and feed families, forget flag-waving patriotism and the >rights we capitalists love and cherish [...] > >WE ALREADY ARE TOTALLY COMMITTED TO MANY COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS!!! Or did you >get all of that juicy hardware you're running on in a swap meet? Mr. Lehmann misunderstands. Not all people who like and use free software are militant about it. It is reasonable to say, however, that a "free" system such as the Usenet is not very "free" if it depends on a *particular* commercial product like ARC. If the Usenet's standard compression method were PKARC, and then this lawsuit thing started, we'd be in a mess (or at least a confusion). As it happens, however, "compress" is public domain, so no one has to worry. -- Chip Salzenberg <chip@ateng.com> or <uunet!ateng!chip> A T Engineering Me? Speak for my company? Surely you jest! Beware of programmers carrying screwdrivers.