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 02:14:47

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

Log message:
        added symlink

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html?cvsroot=www&rev=1.4

Patches:
Index: is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html
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RCS file: is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html
diff -N is-it-ever-a-good-thing.html
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+<!--#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: 2013/05/21 02:14:47 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>