bschwart@elbereth.rutgers.edu (some great stormfowl, whenever he has walked his while) (12/03/89)
Jim Thompson <jthomp@wintermute.sun.com> writes: .\" In article <25770F75.3EA@rpi.edu> tale@cs.rpi.edu (Dave Lawrence) writes: .\" >In <4639@sugar.hackercorp.com> peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva): .\" > .\" > Richard Stallman has explicitly stated, here and in other places, .\" > that selling software is evil. .\" > .\" >Prove it. Provide quotes, and don't twist them to suit your meaning. .\" >I just went through the GNU Manifesto, yet again, and no where does he .\" >say this. .\" .\" He does seem to imply it. Even I have to admit that much. I don't see that it really matters. I happen to have no objection to the selling of software, but neither do I object to the free distribution of software. If Stallman and crew wish to turn out such glorious software and make it not-for-profit-under-any-circumstances then I consider that perfectly OK. However, I do not object either to Microsoft, say, marketing for profit. (I _do_ object to Microsoft marketing QUICK C 2.0 in such a way that when you open up the box you find out they want another $25 if you would like printed manuals. This is pure trickery.) We start leaving the realm of software discussion and enter political discussion. Personally I do not object to _richness_, for I would rather have many rich people around to work for than many governments around to work for. I _do_ object to dishonesty, such as Microsoft displays. (Apple's "look and feel" claim is another example of dishonesty as a means of making money.) Stallman may well feel it is evil to make money off of software. Why should I care? I don't feel that way, but I have no objection to Stallman feeling that way. If it affects the kind of support I get when I use GNU software, then it matters, but otherwise I see nothing dangerous about it if it is true. I _do_ wonder if it has an affect, though. If money mattered I think there might be a GNU FORTRAN already, but I see no evidence of one's existence. There are a lot of us out here who on occasion _must_ compile a FORTRAN program; neither do we see FORTRAN dying rapidly, even if it upsets us. -- Barry Schwartz, Chief SAPsucker bbs@cdspr.rutgers.edu Grad Student, Dept. of Elec. and Comp. Engg. bschwart@elbereth.rutgers.edu Rutgers University College of Engg. bbs@hankel.rutgers.edu Piscataway, NJ 08854 U.S.A. rutgers!cdspr!bbs