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- Xref: sparky gnu.misc.discuss:4225 talk.philosophy.misc:3173 alt.usage.english:10286 alt.society.anarchy:1031
- Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss,talk.philosophy.misc,alt.usage.english,alt.society.anarchy
- Path: sparky!uunet!sybus.sybus.com!myrddin!tct!chip
- From: chip@tct.com (Chip Salzenberg)
- Subject: Re: Fund raising at the FSF
- Message-ID: <2B49ED1A.7405@tct.com>
- Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 20:18:34 GMT
- References: <2B4854DE.5F42@tct.com> <1993Jan5.090712.9584@uwasa.fi>
- Organization: TC Telemanagement, Clearwater, FL
- Lines: 38
-
- According to vinsci@brando.uwasa.fi (Leonard Norrgard):
- >Unfortunately, I have to use a hoarded X display every day at work.
- >The makers of it won't give us sources so we could fix the bugs
- >ourselves. Clearly, the X way of distribution is not working...
-
- Interesting definition of "working", that. X is only the most widely
- used window system in the world. It is such due in part to fixes and
- other contributions from many dedicated and talented people.
-
- If X were a GPL product, it would be in exactly the same (good but not
- great) condition as the publically available X of today. After all,
- those who contribute patches to GPL products usually do not do so out
- of GPL-based coercion; they do so because they like to share. (Or do
- you think that I, who share my GCC patches, transmogrify into an evil
- hoarder at the moment that I type "cd /usr/src/X"?)
-
- Were X to have been a GPL product from the beginning, the public
- minded people who do contribute fixes would have continued to do so.
- The only difference would be a loss: commercial products would never
- have been, since GPL programs just don't provide the revenue stream.
-
- You may not like the commercial X products, but don't imagine that a
- GPL'd X would have made a better commercial X for you to hack. No way.
-
- >> The FSF didn't invent free redistribution, it corrupted it.
- >
- >Clearly the FSF distribution scheme is working to the benefit of both
- >the programmers and the user society...
-
- You can't measure benefit without considering possible greater benefit
- of alternatives. I see PD (and copyrighted-but-really-free, a la X,
- which is practically the same thing) as an alternative that produces a
- greater net benefit than the GPL.
- --
- Chip Salzenberg at Teltronics/TCT <chip@tct.com>, <73717.366@compuserve.com>
- "you make me want to break the laws of time and space / you make me
- want to eat pork / you make me want to staple bagels to my face /
- and remove them with a pitchfork" -- Weird Al Yankovic, "You Make Me"
-