Software release philosophy (was Re: open source crap was Re: Archiving Software)

[der Mouse]

>>> [...] and in Dave's case, it's his freaking software.  He can do
>>> with it whatever he likes.
>> Absolutely.  But, conversely, if we (FSVO "we") want to think less
>> of him for choosing that way, that's up to us.
> But why should you put a moral bent on a personal choice?

Because it's a choice which I believe does harm to the state of the
art, making it a Bad Thing to do.

> IOW, you're saying it's OK to be a bigot.

If you count bias against people who do things which harm society as
bigotry, then yes, I believe it's OK to be a bigot.  (Whether this case
is an example, that's a different question.)

> "I don't hate him because he's German, I hate him because he's not
> FSF."

If you really believe that being non-FSF makes one strongly detrimental
to society, I consider that a perfectly reasonable consequence.  (I may
disagree, of course, but that's a separate question.)

Now, of course, if that hate gets translated into certain kinds of
action, that may be a problem, but it's a separate problem.

I don't hate Dave because-- well, actually, I don't hate Dave at all; I
rather like Dave, even after this incident.  I don't *think less of*
Dave because he's white, or uses classic computers, or lives in
Ontario; I think less of Dave because I think his software distribution
policy choices contribute to holding back the state of the art.

> It's his software, plain & simple.  He has the right to do with it as
> he wishes, bar none, and that's that.

Here again, I see "it's his right to do that" being used as if it
implied "it's not a bad thing for him to do that".  As I explained in
another message, I do not agree with that leap.

> Would it not be "unfair" to dislike you because you run BSD instead
> of Linux?

Not especially.  I'd disagree, of course, but I don't see anything
unfair about it, any more than it's unfair to dislike me because I
drink lots of milk, or drive a car, or shave my scalp, or play pool,
assuming you feel similarly about everyone who drinks lots of milk, or
drives a car, or etc.  (BTW, of those four, I actually do only two; the
others are hypothetical.)

> Expecting everyone else to live to *your* standards is a bit of a
> stretch... is it not?

Yes, it would be.  But I don't, not for any of the meanings of
"expect" (though I'm somewhat unsure about the "consider reasonable or
due" meaning).  I just think less of those that don't.  At least for a
(relatively) few standards I consider important enough - basically,
those from which I see harm to society proceeding.

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