Re: Free Software Company

[Arun Sharma <adsharma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, Sep 17, 2000 at 08:31:13AM +0530, Raghavendra Bhat wrote:
> http://www.ccic.gov/ac/pitac_ltr_sep11.html
> 
> Now who says 'in a country with a socialist past might be more
> sympathetic to RMS's philosophy'.  The FREE SOFTWARE movement is going
> to make a mark everywhere and it is here to stay.

The link talks only about "open source software", which has nothing
to do with socialism. It's the free software in RMS/FSF sense, which
envisions _all_ software to be free and claims that proprietary software
companies are as evil as child molestors and rapists that is completely
out of tune with what goes on in the US.

Most people want Microsoft to do well, because it is a big component
of the mutual funds in which their retirement savings go. Unlike India,
the #1 issue for the Nov presidential election is not morality, freedom
or anything else. It's the economy.

However, RMS/FSF have their pockets of strength in places known for
their "counter culture". I'm just returning from a restaurant in
Berkeley where I found a bearded 30 something male wearing a T-shirt
with DeCSS code on it. That is not to say RMS = DeCSS. I support DeCSS,
but don't support RMS. However, many DeCSS supportors are likely to
support RMS. But people who don't support DeCSS will definitely not
support RMS.

	-Arun