Re: [rms@gnu.org: Why you shouldn't use the Library GPL for your next library]

["Justin Ross" <opiskin hotmail com>]

>> But we should not listen to these temptations, because we can 
>> achieve much more if we stand together.  We free software
>> developers should support one another.  By releasing libraries that
>> are limited to free software only, we can help each other's free
>> software packages outdo the proprietary alternatives.  The whole
>> free software movement will have more popularity, because free
>> software as a whole will stack up better against the competition.

>
>"By releasing libraries...limited to free software only..."
>
>Here you are restricting true freedom in favor free software
>advocacy. File this under "free beer, not free speech" I guess.

I think to conclude this is to misunderstand RMS's intention.  If I may 
speak like I'm him, he is not especially interested in increasing your 
freedom to choose among software development and distribution models, 
though that's fine.  He is especially interested, however, in what kind 
of freedom *results* from one or another model.  He advocates a model 
(notably, one with specific limitations on your freedoms) which has as 
its aim an increase in your and my freedom to use software.

(I'm doing my best here.)  In sum, do file this one under free speech, 
because the limitations it places on your freedom (to be a proprietor, 
for instance) engender a model of cooperation.  Were it not for these 
limitations, the freedom of free software would be undermined by its 
opposite: proprietary development which excludes us from its fruits.

The same goes in other arenas of our lives.  Our society has many 
restrictions (you mustn't kill people, steal from them, etc.) which 
generally increase individuals' freedom.

Justin




 




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