www/philosophy is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program...

[Dora Scilipoti]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Dora Scilipoti <dora>   20/11/02 03:33:43

Modified files:
        philosophy     : is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program.html 

Log message:
        Reworded by RMS to add link to saying-no-even-once.html. Add subtitles. 
Make stray paragraph an author's note. Improve footnote. (www-discuss 
2020-11-01).

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.20&r2=1.21

Patches:
Index: is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program.html,v
retrieving revision 1.20
retrieving revision 1.21
diff -u -b -r1.20 -r1.21
--- is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program.html       27 Aug 2017 14:56:06 -0000      
1.20
+++ is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program.html       2 Nov 2020 08:33:42 -0000       
1.21
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
-<!-- Parent-Version: 1.84 -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.94 -->
 <title>Is It Ever a Good Thing to Use a Nonfree Program? 
 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
  <!--#include 
virtual="/philosophy/po/is-ever-good-use-nonfree-program.translist" -->
@@ -7,11 +7,26 @@
 
 <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>
+<address class="byline">by Richard Stallman</address>
 
-<p>If you run a nonfree program on your computer, it denies your freedom;
-the immediate wrong is directed at you.(<a href="#footnote">*</a>)</p>
+<p>The question here is, is it ever a good thing to use a nonfree
+program?  Our conclusion is that it is usually a bad thing, harmful to 
+yourself and in some cases to others.</p> 
+
+<p>If you run a nonfree program on your computer, it denies your 
+freedom; the immediate wrong is directed at you(<a 
+href="#footnote" id="footnote-rev"><sup>[*]</sup></a>).</p>
+
+<p>That does <em>not</em> mean you're an &ldquo;evildoer&rdquo; or
+&ldquo;sinner&rdquo; for running a nonfree program.  When the harm
+you're doing is mainly to yourself, we hope you will stop, for your
+own sake.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes you may face great pressure to run a nonfree program; we
+don't say you must defy that pressure at all costs (though it is
+inspiring when someone does that), but we do urge you to <a 
+href="/philosophy/saying-no-even-once.html"> look for occasions to 
+push back in smaller ways</a>.</p>
 
 <p>If you recommend that others run the nonfree program,
 or lead them to do so, you're leading them to give
@@ -26,6 +41,8 @@
 the use of the nonfree software aims directly at putting an end to the
 use of that very same nonfree software.</p>
 
+<h3>In the past</h3>
+
 <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
@@ -52,6 +69,8 @@
 reason, you should reconsider from time to time whether the need still
 exists.</p>
 
+<h3>Nowadays</h3>
+
 <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?
@@ -91,7 +110,7 @@
 resist stretching it any further lest it turn into an all-purpose
 excuse for any profitable activity with nonfree software.</p>
 
-<hr />
+<h3>Author's note</h3>
 
 <p>Occasionally it is necessary to use and even upgrade a nonfree
 system on a machine in order to install a free system to replace it on
@@ -99,13 +118,13 @@
 arguments apply: it is legitimate to recommend running some nonfree
 software momentarily in order to remove it.</p>
 
-
+<div class="footnote">
 <hr />
-
-<p id="footnote">Footnote: Using the nonfree program can have
-unfortunate indirect effects, such as rewarding the perpetrator and
-encouraging more use of that program.  This is a further reason to
-shun use of nonfree programs.</p>
+<h4>Footnote</h4>
+<p><a href="#footnote-rev" id="footnote">[*]</a> Using the nonfree 
+program can have unfortunate indirect effects, such as rewarding the 
+perpetrator and encouraging more use of that program.  This is a 
+further reason to shun use of nonfree programs.</p>
 
 <p>Most proprietary programs come with an End User License Agreement
 that hardly anyone reads.  Tucked away in it, in most cases, is an
@@ -120,6 +139,7 @@
 
 <p>However, we think that the truly moral path is to carefully reject
 such agreements.</p>
+</div>
 
 </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
 <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
@@ -168,7 +188,7 @@
      There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
      Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
 
-<p>Copyright &copy; 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 Richard Stallman</p>
+<p>Copyright &copy; 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020 Richard Stallman</p>
 
 <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
 href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/";>Creative
@@ -178,7 +198,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2017/08/27 14:56:06 $
+$Date: 2020/11/02 08:33:42 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>