rms@AI.MIT.EDU (06/07/89)
The scenario that you feel shows I have lost my "grip" is an accurate
description of what happens after a judge issues an injunction.
You may not have thought about it from this point of view, but perhaps
I have had more reason to do so. I may find myself in that position
someday.
By contrast, your assumption that I have been magically exempted from
the causes of the economic pressure that you feel is untrue. In
respect for the readers of the list, you should verify your
assumptions before you take them public:
Therefore, I feel no problems whatsoever in
accepting a living wage. Mr. Stallman, you do exactly the same
thing.
I do not receive a salary. (I've chosen not to accept money from the
FSF, to keep away from any appearance of corruption that could confuse
the IRS.) Also, I am not wealthy. I make a living from free software
consulting and from gifts sent specifically to me by grateful users.
Thus, I am not in a different situation from yours. I have chosen
a different way of dealing with the situation.
Not that I think that "accepting a living wage", in itself, is wrong.
It depends on what you are being paid to do.
Imagine if people who advertise shoddy products misleadingly but
lawfully said, "I'm just accepting a living wage." Imagine if Apple's
lawyers say, "I'm just doing my job." Imagine if bureaucrats who only
make it harder for others to work say, "I'm just doing my job." If
the activity is wrong, being paid for it is no excuse.
I don't know what you are paid for, so I can't speak about your job.
However, I believe it is wrong to make software proprietary, so I
decided never to do this, whether paid or not. I must therefore make
a living as best I can in other ways.
When I made this decision, I feared it might be lead to hardship. I
decided to follow this path anyway. It did not turn out as I had
feared: I have no trouble earning as much as most Americans do. (I
could earn more, if I spent more time consulting, but that would slow
down progress on generally useful GNU features.) Some people who are
used to affluence might call that standard of living a hardship, but I
don't think they should be high on the list for sympathy; the 50% of
our countrymen who earn less than the median have to come first.
This may not address your main reasons for disapproving of my
activities. If you don't like what the GNU project is trying to do,
and you feel that is a reason not to use GNU software, this is your
choice.
However, such a choice does not justify sending insulting and
factually inaccurate messages to a list which exists to forward the
GNU project. If you want to stop using GNU software, then you
shouldn't interrupt those who continue to support GNU, when they
discuss how to do so. Discuss the programs you do wish to use, in a
list which exists for that purpose.