Re: Re: Free software, proprietary software and Stalin

[Arun Sharma <adsharma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Feb 29, 2000 at 11:59:17PM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> >>"Arun" == Arun Sharma <adsharma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> 
>  Arun> Their (BSD) main concern is software.
> 
>         Really? If I were as uncharitale as you, I woul say their main
>  concern is ego -- and certainly find justification on the
>  mailinglists. However, I don't want to stoop to those levels.

You're entitled to your opinions. As you don't speak for the GNU
project, I don't speak for any of the *BSD projects and the personality
flaws of the people associated with it.

I just air my opinions about why BSD license is a great thing.

>         Really? I wonder. Of course, if you were in it for the money
>  (as you once confessed you are), you woudn't agree with this anyway,
>  would you? 

That is just a lie. You apologied for lying the last time around. 

> 
>  Arun> Selling software is not a crime, nor is it exploitation. No one needs
>  Arun> protection. Get over it.
> 
>         I beg to differ. I have a BSD derived box it costs thousands
>  of dollars to upgrade -- and I am at the mercy of the people sho took
>  the open source coide, branded and closed it, for bug fixes --
>  obviously I do not have access to the source code.

The relevance of the commercial BSD software is self evident. If it
was that inferior, you'd just throw it away and replace it with
Linux wouldn't you ? You're using it because it has some value. Or
someone who is paying you thinks it has some value.

Commercial software can not exist for sentimental reasons.

>  Arun> And think about: http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=RHAT&d=1y and what
>  Arun> happens when the Linux hype subsides. How are you going to get
>  Arun> your video/network/modem card to work ? Are you going to get
>  Arun> support from your cable modem/DSL company ?  Or you're left
>  Arun> writing these "Please support Linux" letters ?
> 
>         Just liek we got things to work when there _was_ no Linux
>  hype. I have been using Linux since late '93 -- when the BSD's were
>  supposedly more hip.

In other words, replace the network card, modem, video cards with the
ones supported by Linux, rather than the best cards available in the
market. Of course, 3-4 years down the road, when the concept is old
enough, the hardware manufacturer will release the specs and someone
will write a GPL'ed driver for it.

Do you remember how old is AGP ? This is not just a temporary problem
that's going to go away once Linux kills MS. It's more fundamental
than that.

	-Arun