Re: Hey! Why does everybody love flaming so much? [was: `pure']
On Wed, May 05, 1999 at 10:19:52AM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> d) Before we go any further, I would like to have explained to me how
> starting a free software foray in an proprietary protocol is
> harmful to the free software community
(Please don't try to extract my personal opinion on this issue from the
examples below. I am not going to add my private fuel to this thread. I
merely want to point out an example)
When you have a free client, the objection against the non-free server may
drop in certain areas (ccoperations etc).
A: "Hey, I heard Linux is great, can we use it for our desktop?"
B: "Sure."
A: "But we have NT servers..."
B: "Linux can use them."
A: "Great, let's do it."
The alternative could be:
A: "Hey, I heard Linux is great, can we use it?"
B: "Yes, but we have also to change to a Linux server, because of MS
proprietary protocol."
A: "Ok, no problem."
So, it can do harm in the sense that it does not lead to maximum gain. But I
agree that it could also be the other way round, that not having any support
for a particular proprietary protocol can yield to a situation where Free
Software is not used at all. In this case, we have lost nothing.
> e) Explain to me how having a fee client implementation is any
> dofferent from the early days of GNU, when everyhing needed an
> non-free OS to run on.
We are stronger now.
The question is if we can continue to get stronger indefinitely by embracing
the proprietary world, or if it is time at one point to actively go against
proprietary protocols and software patents. The other question is when the
time has come if it is time to fight.
Marcus
--
"The purpose of Free Software is Free Software.
The End and the Means are the same." -- Craig Sanders
Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
Reply to: