Ramanraj K wrote on Wed, May 26, 2004 at 10:40:46AM +0530:
,----
| Since GNU Philosophy and the GPL give the freedom to fork, it would be
| unfair to use an expression like `gnu zealot' - because it makes no
| sense. The GNU philosophy and the GPL permit other developers and
| people to change and modify the source code, and those who give you
| such freedom could never be labelled as zealots.
`----
Seriously, the GNU project has given us a lot of useful tools. Man,
where is my life without a GCC or an emacs? :) However, one fine point
drives people away (or even against!) the hard stand on the use of
certain words like "piracy" or.. err... "Linux". I'm still an avid
free software supporter.. and believe me (or ask the older folks here
on this list :) ) I used to be a major "call it only gnu/linux" guy.
I learnt it the hard way that this linux-vs-gnu-linux flaming drives
people crazy and against the free software movement. (as in people go
around calling gnu-related people as zealots, etc.,.)
Nobody can deny the genius of RMS. Nobody can deny the wonderful
contribution of the Free Software Movement, BUT, not giving the users
the comfort of calling it "Linux" or using the word "Piracy" makes
Free Software Enthusiasts smell pungent.
But thats just my view. I'm sure many "pure" GNU heads might not be
convinced about this all... :) and lets not flame, please :)
,----
| Our Copyright Act deals only with `copyright infringement'. Piracy
| refers to grave offences committed on the High Seas by pirates.
`----
This is an extreme rendition of piracy - just as how "freeing software
users" sounds. When applied to India, I dont think "freedom to users"
is as serious an issue as Illiteracy, Bad Media or Poverty. (and I
probably already mentioned this in an offlist discussion to you :)
). I donot say free software is unimportant. Having software that
students can study / hack on is very useful. But its not
"vital". Thats all I have to say.
cheers,
-Suraj
--
,-----------------[http://www.symonds.net/~suraj/]---o
| In one year, the average human heart circulates from 770,000 to 1.6 million
| gallons of blood through the body. This is enough fluid to fill 200 tank cars
| , each with a capacity of 8,000 gallons.
`------------------------------[suraj@xxxxxxxxxxx]---o
