George Barca wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:52:08 +0000, Homer <usenet@xxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>>Verily I say unto thee, that George Barca spake thusly:
>>[snip]
>>
>>Executive summary: The world is full of evil, that's just the way it is.
>
> True.
>
>>Yes George, the world is indeed full of evil, but it is also filled with
>>good. It only remains for each of us to choose a side, take a stand, and
>>fight our cause. Unfortunately, we can never win, because this battle is
>>eternal, but that's the whole point. It's not the destination - it's the
>>journey.
>
> Actually I do believe one side or the other will ultimately win.
> However I can't say which side.
>
>>AFAIAC companies like Microsoft represent that half of humanity which is
>>profoundly evil, and organisations like the FSF represent the other half
>>of humanity which is profoundly good. This is of course a generalisation
>>and gross oversimplification, that is never 100% true either way, but it
>>is true /enough/ to be able to decide who one's friends and enemies are.
>>
>>So what side did /you/ choose?
>
> I choose the side where people are compensated for their efforts.
What type of compensation are you referring to?
> I don't believe in giving stuff away unless every single entity
> is giving stuff away and that will never happen.
There are plenty of people giving stuff away right now. Richard Stallman
gave away GCC. 10s of thousands of GPL coders have given away their code,
including myself.
We did so willingly, and were happy to do so. Before I gave my code away,
(under the GPL) I already felt compensated.
> I don't believe in patenting a keystroke but yet I do believe
> that if a person comes up with a new method of calculating Pi to
> the billionth decimal place, he should be compensated by anyone
> who uses his method commercially.
>
> Basically I believe that if a person plows, sows seeds,
> cultivates the land and so forth he should be entitled to reap
> the benefits and he should be protected from others trying to
> worm their way into his action.
>
> One thing I find disturbing about the Linux/OSS community is that
> their seems to be a sub-group of activists that for some odd
> reason feel they are entitled to everything for free.
Which sub-group of activists are you referring to ?
> In general the common denominator with these people is that they
> have done zero to contribute and often are the first to cry foul
> when their insignificant work may be compromised.
Who for instance ?
>
> It seems to me that the OSS community in general is chock full of
> bitter people who expect others to give their works away but yet
> won't give their own works away.
Maybe, but the GPL community is not.
> As an example, how many people here use or program Windows by day
> and advocate Linux by night?
I can't see how that is relevant. Many here are forced to use Windows in
their day jobs, they have no choice.
> So can I have the source code to your daily work?
The last code I wrote was released when I wrote it, about a year ago.
> No?
> Why not?
I said yes.
> And why do you expect me to hand over my source code?
> etc.
I expect nothing from you George. If you're not releasing any code under the
GPL because you desire to, that's fine with me.
I'll never be interested in your code if it's not GPL or Linux.
--
If we wish to reduce our ignorance, there are people we will
indeed listen to. Trolls are not among those people, as trolls, more or
less by definition, *promote* ignorance.
Kelsey Bjarnason, C.O.L.A. 2008
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