Re: [gtk-list] Re: GTK+ and non-Unix OS

[Matt Kimball <mkimball xmission com>]

On Thu, Apr 16, 1998 at 10:17:11PM -0600, Bill Thorson wrote:
> Personally, I hope there is never a port to Windoze.  I know that sounds
> bad but it's the way I feel.  I believe that gimp and gtk+ are two of the
> free worlds more shining stars and powerful tools in the fight against the
> evil dictator known as MS.  If you port these to Winblows you would be
> giving up our strength and giving others no reason to revolt against the
> tyranny under which they live and work.

I don't agree at all.  Yes MS is evil, but there are lots of Windows
unders who don't understand the free software world.  Lots of them
believe all the FUD about free software being inferior in quality to
proprietary software and don't understand why they would want the
source code to the programs they run.  Surely they would be
enlightened if they saw some of the excellent software being produced
by the free software community?  Consider it planting the seed of
rebellion in the heart of the MS empire.  I think it will benefit the
free software movement in the long run if we port quality free
software apps to proprietary operating systems.

If Windows users see that they can get an app that is better than
Photoshop from the free software community, perhaps they will begin to
wonder if they could get an OS better than Windows?  I think they
might.  And even if they don't, users exposed to free software are
more likely to write free software.  I never would have switched to
Linux or written any free software (in the FSF sense of 'free') if I
hadn't been exposed to the GNU tools under proprietary operating
systems.  I would never have known what I was missing.

Matt Kimball
mkimball@xmission.com