Re: Emacs project mission (was Re: "If you're still seeing problems, please reopen.")

[John Wiegley]

>>>>> "AM" == Alan Mackenzie <address@hidden> writes:

AM> Their way of making money is by immorally, surreptitiously, and in many
AM> cases illegally collecting their users' personal data and selling it on.

One thing the free software movement should strengthen is selling users on the
merits of its ideals, and not try to distinguish itself by painting the other
side in such a lopsidedly evil light.

I know many people who work at Apple; I know family who work at Apple. All of
my own hardware is from Apple. Yet they do not, as the above sentence might
suggest, gather together in dark rooms to render kitten fat over bubbling
cauldrons. If that sounds hyperbolic, it gives you some idea of how statements
like the above come across to someone who is sympathetic both to users (who of
course desire complete freedom) and corporations (who desire to stay in
business, and are beholden to more entities than just their users).

Could large companies do better? Of course they could. The Free Software
Foundation might even be the one to show them the path to a better way. But
vilifying the opposition does not make your case in the eyes of those who
don't already agree with you.

-- 
John Wiegley                  GPG fingerprint = 4710 CF98 AF9B 327B B80F
http://newartisans.com                          60E1 46C4 BD1A 7AC1 4BA2