On Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:39:26 -0500, "Josh Paetzel" <josh at tcbug.org> said: > Personally I'm all about choices. Give me the freedom to choose > proprietary closed source software, open source software, or free > software. I use a mixture of all three. > > Restricting my freedom to choose, whether it's proprietary closed > source, Free Software, or Open Source software leaves me feeling > unsatisfied and unfulfilled, and if I want to feel that way I can always > download a linux distribution. I don't need someone telling me I > shouldn't listen to mp3's simply because they aren't "Free" ;) > I personally agree with Josh but I'd like to point out where I think RMS is coming from. To him proprietary software is 'evil.' This is a philosophical position which brings up questions such as: "To what extent does my use of proprietary software make me a participant in evil?" "To what extent does my promotion of a system that makes an evil program available to others make me a participant in evil?" "Should we have the liberty to chose something that is evil?" Through his words and actions, I think he's shown where he stands on these questions. Not everyone has to agree with RMS and not everyone does. Even though I disagree with RMS on a philosophical level, I agree with him on a pragmatic level in that it is in our best interest as a free society to promote the use of free software and discourage the use of proprietary software.