gsh7w@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Hennessy) (10/04/90)
Jay Maynard writes:
#We don't get gnu.misc.discuss here.
Followup to alt.religion.computers, then. Lets this out of an
inappropiate group.
#Normally, I would have ignored this
#posting, since Mr. Hennessy and I have had this discussion before, but I must
#respond to a personal attack, and I will do so in the group where the attack
#was posted.
Since I have not made a personal attack, this is faulty reasoning.
#Greg, go back and reread the first sentence. Parse it out carefully. It's a
#conditional. The whole paragraph applies directly only if the conditional is
#true.
Oh, I see. You set up a strawman, then demolish it. If you intended
people to realize that your scenerio has no relationship to reality,
then you did not spread misinformation. You were speculating what may
happen, and then called the FSF theives because of their hypothetical
actions in your sccenerio.
Cute.
# I am not spreading misinformation, either ignorantly or maliciously. I
#am doing my best to point out to anyone who might get sucked in by the FSF's
#propaganda machine the ramifications of using GNU code, and showing that the
#FSF isn't.
#If the
#FSF was subject to truth in advertising laws, they'd have to change their name
#and publicity.
Since their code is free by one definition they are fine. It is not
their fault that the word "free" has several meanings. I have
sugguested that they change their name to the Redistributable Software
Foundation, but that is a different matter.
#Then what is it? They're telling me what I can do with my property.
No, they are telling you their position on property owned by both of
you. If you and I write a program together, we have to both agree on
the distribution. If you and the FSF both write a program (which is
what happends when you use FSF code) both of you have to agree on the
distribution.
You are the one trying to get the benefit of using free code, and then
not passing that benefit on to others.
--
-Greg Hennessy, University of Virginia
USPS Mail: Astronomy Department, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475 USA
Internet: gsh7w@virginia.edu
UUCP: ...!uunet!virginia!gsh7w