Re: New maintainer

[David Kastrup]

"John Wiegley" <address@hidden> writes:

> I don't recognize your authority to tell me what is and is not
> ethical, Richard, and think you should stop using words like
> "injustice" and "inethical" in your presentations. Not everyone agrees
> with you, so calling them wrong to paint yourself as right does little
> service to your cause.
>
> If you present the benefits and virtue of GNU-like systems, it gives
> weight to your message. But standing out by demonizing opponents is a
> horse that politicians have beat to death, and has never, ever led to
> lasting success.

Uh, it's the fundamental tenet of the GNU project.  Free Software's
value does not rest on relative benefits and virtues but on the
fundamental software freedoms.  The stance of the FSF fundamentally
differs from that of the "Open Source" software camp which tries to
paint Free Software as a superior development model, consequently giving
a nod to proprietary software as long as it is successful.

With that stance, Free Software would never have gotten off the ground
since it by necessity started inferior to existing proprietary
solutions.

The whole point of GNU is the non-acceptance of software denying the
users the fundamental software freedoms.  This constitutes a moral
judgment and as such is indistinguishable from "demonizing opponents" or
at the very least damning their actions.

So it would be pointless to ask for change on that front.  It's what
makes this show ultimately tick.

-- 
David Kastrup