www/philosophy words-to-avoid.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       14/06/17 16:36:16

Modified files:
        philosophy     : words-to-avoid.html 

Log message:
        Express more sharply why "monetize" is bad.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.187&r2=1.188

Patches:
Index: words-to-avoid.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html,v
retrieving revision 1.187
retrieving revision 1.188
diff -u -b -r1.187 -r1.188
--- words-to-avoid.html 16 Jun 2014 12:07:19 -0000      1.187
+++ words-to-avoid.html 17 Jun 2014 16:36:13 -0000      1.188
@@ -612,20 +612,22 @@
 
 <h4 id="Monetize">&ldquo;Monetize&rdquo;</h4>
 <p>
-The proper definition of &ldquo;monetize&rdquo; is &ldquo;use
+The proper definition of &ldquo;monetize&rdquo; is &ldquo;to use
 something as currency.&rdquo; For instance, human societies have
 monetized gold, silver, copper, printed paper, special kinds of
 seashells, and large rocks.  However, we now see a tendency to use the
-word in a new and unfortunate way, meaning &ldquo;to make a profit
-from something&rdquo;.</p>
+word in another way, meaning &ldquo;to use something as a basis for
+profit&rdquo;.</p>
 <p>
-Referring to that practice using this word
-implicitly involves a metaphor of &ldquo;converting the thing into
-money&rdquo;, and that metaphor is what's harmful, because it
-presumes that the money is what really matters.</p>
-<p>
-A productive and ethical business can make money, but that's not
-all it thinks about.</p>
+That usage casts the profit as primary, and the thing used to get the
+profit as secondary.  That attitude applied to a software project is
+objectionable because it would lead the developers to make the program
+proprietary, if they conclude that making it free/libre isn't
+sufficiently profitable.</p>
+<p>
+A productive and ethical business can make money, but if it
+subordinates all else to profit, it is not likely to remain
+ethical.</p>
 
 
 <h4 id="MP3Player">&ldquo;MP3 Player&rdquo;</h4>
@@ -954,7 +956,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2014/06/16 12:07:19 $
+$Date: 2014/06/17 16:36:13 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>