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<P><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>> <FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#000000 size=3>Either that's a misunderstanding of Stallman, falling into
the classic beer/speech fallacy, or I grossly misunderstand
Stallman.<BR><BR>> I've always assumed that one reason (though not the only
reason) people are willing to donate their coding on contemporary open-source
projects is precisely BECAUSE there's an aftermarket for services.<BR>> Kill
the services market and open-source coding just isn't as
attractive.</FONT><BR></FONT></P>
<P>Almost immediately after I pressed the send button, I realized the potential
for debate and maybe flame too. I do not want to use this list for that. However
feel free to communicate with me directly on this issue.<BR><BR>Suffice it to
say that you should read the recent interview of Dr. Stallman:<BR><A
href="http://kerneltrap.org/node/4484"
target=_blank>http://kerneltrap.org/node/4484</A><BR><BR>Some interesting
excerpts:<BR><STRONG>"Any development of non-free software is harmful and
unfortunate, whether it uses GNU tools or other tools."<BR></STRONG><BR>JA: How
do you react to the opinion that non-free software is justified as a means for
raising dollars that can then be put into the development of completely new
software, money that otherwise may not have been available, and thus creating
software that may have never been developed?<BR><BR>Richard Stallman:
<STRONG>This is no justification at all.</STRONG> <STRONG>A non-free program
systematically denies the users the freedom to cooperate; it is the basis of an
antisocial scheme to dominate people. The program is available lawfully only to
those who will surrender their freedom. That's not a contribution to society,
it's a social problem. It is better to develop no software than to develop
non-free software.<BR></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>JA: What about the
programmers...</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Richard Stallman: <STRONG>What about
them? The programmers writing non-free software? They are doing something
antisocial. They should get some other job.</STRONG></FONT><BR></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>He simply doesn't care about
programmers making a honest living. Not everyone is born with a silver
spoon.<BR>As far as I am concerned he is a nutcase (flame 2>&1 >
/dev/null), but then what do I know?</FONT></P>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Cheers,<BR>Angsuman</FONT></DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT><BR>-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: wp-pro-bounces@lists.automattic.com<BR>[<A
href="mailto:wp-pro-bounces@lists.automattic.com">mailto:wp-pro-bounces@lists.automattic.com</A>]On
Behalf Of philip reed<BR>Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 1:22 AM<BR>To:
wp-pro@lists.automattic.com<BR>Subject: Re: [wp-pro] WordPress
Coolie<BR>Importance: Low<BR><BR><BR>On 1/24/07, Angsuman Chakraborty
<angsuman@taragana.com> wrote:<BR>> And then there are people
whose<BR>> mindset is to abhor anything non-free, in Richard Stallmanish
ways. They<BR>> believe everything should be free, conveniently forgetting
that too should<BR>> be working in their day-jobs for free, without expecting
any remuneration<BR>> whatsoever.<BR><BR>Either that's a misunderstanding of
Stallman, falling into the classic<BR>beer/speech fallacy, or I grossly
misunderstand Stallman.<BR><BR>I've always assumed that one reason (though not
the only reason)<BR>people are willing to donate their coding on contemporary
open-source<BR>projects is precisely BECAUSE there's an aftermarket for
services.<BR>Kill the services market and open-source coding just isn't
as<BR>attractive.<BR><BR>Regards,<BR><BR>Philip<BR>--<BR>Philip Reed, Web
developer<BR><BR><A href="http://philipreedtech.com"
target=_blank>http://philipreedtech.com</A><BR><BR>Web. Made
simple.<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>wp-pro mailing
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