Essay RFC delayed.

[Kyle Rose]

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>           The real challenge is in getting them to see profit in working with
>      the community while discouraging parasitism on their part.  I don't
>      see you doing this.
> 
> This is precisely what Eric does.

Does he?  That's not the impression I get.  "Discouraging parasitism"
with respect to the free software community means to me "understanding
and respecting the ideals of the community."  Eric isn't telling them
that issues of freedom are important to the vast majority of us
hackers; in fact, he actively downplays the importance of such issues
in his writings.

>      Although the magnitude is different, what you are doing is analagous
>      to making deals with a serial killer where you get something in return
>      for providing him with victims.  I don't see this as a very honorable
>      way of doing business, even if what you get back ultimately benefits
>      society as a whole.  The ends do not justify the means.
> 
> This is a "straw man" argument.  Working with a business is not akin
> to working with a serial killer. If a company wants to release
> something under the Bobzilla Public License they are certainly free
> to do so. Whether or not that is the wisest decision for the
> software is another thing entirely.

My point is that Eric is giving them an easier way out, by
representing a part of the community that is more palatable to them.
Instead, companies should be made to know that their participation is
contingent on their understanding of and respect for the principles of
freedom we follow.

Kyle


- -- 
Kyle R. Rose                    MIT LCS NE43-309, Cambridge, MA
18 Leland Street Apt. 1         617-253-5883
Somerville, MA 02143            krose at theory.lcs.mit.edu
617-666-0017                    http://web.mit.edu/krr/www/

I know you can fight.  But it's our wits that make us men.
                                  - Braveheart
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