www/philosophy is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html

[Robert Musial]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Robert Musial <musial>  13/05/21 02:13:52

Removed files:
        philosophy     : is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html 

Log message:
        removing old file to create symlink

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.2&r2=0

Patches:
Index: is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html
===================================================================
RCS file: is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html
diff -N is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html
--- is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html        20 May 2013 21:43:13 -0000      1.2
+++ /dev/null   1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0000
@@ -1,160 +0,0 @@
-<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
-<!-- Parent-Version: 1.75 -->
-<title>Is It Ever a Good Thing to Use a Nonfree Program? 
-- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
-<!-- begin /server/initial-translations-list.html -->
-
-<!-- HTML head: set a flag for further expansion in body-include*.html. -->
-
-
-<!-- end /server/initial-translations-list.html -->
-<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
-
-<h2>Is It Ever a Good Thing to Use a Nonfree Program?</h2>
-
-<p>by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/";><strong>Richard
-Stallman</strong></a></p>
-
-<p>If you run a nonfree program on your computer, it denies your freedom;
-the main one harmed is you. Your usage of it can harm others
-indirectly, by encouraging development of that nonfree program. If
-you make a promise not to redistribute the program to others, you do
-wrong, because breaking such a promise is bad and keeping it is worse.
-Still, the main direct harm is to you.</p>
-
-<p>It is even worse if you recommend that others run the nonfree program,
-or lead them to do so. When you do that, you're leading them to give
-up their freedom. Thus, what we should avoid most firmly is leading
-or encouraging others to run nonfree software. (Where the program uses
-a secret protocol for communication, as in the case of Skype, your own
-use of it pressures others to use it too, so it is especially
-important to reject any use of these programs.)</p>
-
-<p>But there is one special case where using some nonfree software, and
-even urging others to use it, can be a positive thing. That's when
-the use of the nonfree software aims directly at putting an end to the
-use of that very same nonfree software.</p>
-
-<p>In 1983 I decided to develop the GNU operating system, as a free
-replacement for Unix. The feasible way to do it was to write and test
-the components one by one on Unix. But was it legitimate to use Unix
-for this? And was it legitimate to ask others to use Unix for this,
-given that Unix was proprietary software? Of course, if it had not
-been proprietary, it would not have required replacing.</p>
-
-<p>The conclusion I reached was that using Unix to put an end to the use
-of Unix was legitimate. I likened it to participating in small ways
-in some other evil activity, such as a criminal gang or a dishonest
-political campaign, in order to expose it and shut it down. While
-participating in the activity is wrong in itself, shutting it down
-excuses minor peripheral participation, comparable to merely using
-Unix. This argument would not justify being a ringleader, but I was
-only considering using Unix, not going to work for its development
-team.</p>
-
-<p>The job of replacing Unix was completed when the last essential
-component was replaced by Linux, the kernel started by Linus Torvalds
-in 1991. We still add to the GNU/Linux system, but that doesn't
-require using Unix, so it isn't a reason for using Unix -- not any
-more. Thus, whenever you're using a nonfree program for this sort of
-reason, you should reconsider from time to time whether the need still
-exists.</p>
-
-<p>However, there are other nonfree programs we still need to replace,
-and the analogous question often arises. Should you run the nonfree
-driver for a peripheral to help you develop a free replacement driver?
-Yes, by all means. Is it ok to run the <a
-href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html";>nonfree
-Javascript</a> on a web site in order to file a complaint about that
-nonfree Javascript code? Definitely &mdash; but other than that, you
-should have <a
-href="https://www.gnu.org/software/librejs/";>LibreJS</a> block it for
-you.</p>
-
-<p>But this justification won't stretch any further. People that develop
-nonfree software, even software with malicious functionalities, often
-try to excuse this on the grounds that they fund some development of
-free software. However, a business that is basically wrong can't be
-legitimized by spending some of the profits on a worthy cause. For
-instance, some (not all) of the activities of the Gates Foundation are
-laudable, but they don't excuse Bill Gates's career, or Microsoft. If
-the business works directly against the worthy cause it tries to
-legitimize itself with, that is a self-contradiction and it undermines
-the cause.</p>
-
-<p>Even using a nonfree program to develop free software in general is
-better to avoid. For instance, we should not ask people to run
-Windows or MacOS in order to make free applications run on them. As
-developer of Emacs and GCC, I accepted changes to make them support
-nonfree systems such as VMS, Windows and MacOS. There was no reason
-to reject that code, but I did not ask people to run nonfree systems
-in order to develop it. The changes came from people who were using
-those systems anyway.</p>
-
-<p>The "developing its own replacement" exception is valid within its
-limits, and crucial for the progress of free software, but we must
-resist stretching it any further lest it turn into an all-purpose
-excuse for any profitable activity with nonfree software.</p>
-
-</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
-<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
-<div id="footer">
-
-<p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
-<a href="mailto:address@hidden";>&lt;address@hidden&gt;</a>.
-There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
-the FSF.  Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
-to <a href="mailto:address@hidden";>&lt;address@hidden&gt;</a>.</p>
-
-<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
-        replace it with the translation of these two:
-
-        We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
-        translations.  However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
-        Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
-        to <a href="mailto:address@hidden";>
-        &lt;address@hidden&gt;</a>.</p>
-
-        <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of
-        our web pages, see <a
-        href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
-        README</a>. -->
-Please see the <a
-href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
-README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
-of this article.</p>
-
-<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
-     files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
-     be under CC BY-ND 3.0 US.  Please do NOT change or remove this
-     without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
-     Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
-     document.  For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the
-     document was modified, or published.
-     
-     If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too.
-     Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying
-     years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable
-     year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including
-     being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system).
-     
-     There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
-     Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
-
-<p>Copyright &copy; 2013 Richard Stallman</p>
-
-<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
-href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/";>Creative
-Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License</a>.</p>
-
-<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
-
-<p>Updated:
-<!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2013/05/20 21:43:13 $
-<!-- timestamp end -->
-</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-</body>
-</html>