We need more of Richard Stallman, not less
ploum.net
We need more of Richard Stallman, not less écrit par Ploum, Lionel Dricot, ingénieur, écrivain de science-fiction, développeur de logiciels libres.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/1366698

Richard Stallman was right since the very beginning. Every warning, every prophecy realised. And, worst of all, he had the solution since the start. The problem is not Richard Stallman or the Free Software Foundation. The problem is us. The problem is that we didn’t listen.

  • NathanUp@lemmy.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    By failing to make a statement on capitalism, it necessarily assumes the two are not in conflict.

    No it doesn’t. Either there’s no logic in that statement at all, or you’re playing 5D chess with time travel and I’m playing checkers. While the article says:

    Selling a copy of a free program is legitimate, and we encourage it

    it makes no statement on whether this activity represents a sustainable business model, nor does it explore how selling FOSS may or may not affect other businesses. I said:

    It seems to me that the FSF has always refrained from directly making any kind of statement on capitalism, focusing (as the article says) solely on software freedom.

    because the article itself ended with:

    When we defend users’ freedom, we are not distracted by side issues such as how much of a distribution fee is charged. Freedom is the issue, the whole issue, and the only issue.

    I don’t (and can’t) know whether the absence of discussion on FOSS’ relation to capitalism represents a touch of myopia (as you suggest) on the part of RMS & the FSF, whether RMS intends to be the Gary Yourofsky of free software and it’s a deliberate choice for the sake of optics, or whether it betrays a pro-capitalism stance, but my feeling is that RMS is more concerned about FOSS as a vehicle for the creation and preservation of a digital commons, and a safeguard against privacy violation, and likely doesn’t have terribly many well informed thoughts and opinions on economic systems.

    • buckykat@lemmy.fmhy.ml
      0·
      1 year ago

      Since you’ve completely ignored my main point, I’ll just repeat it:

      Why is there nonFree software?

      The answer is the profit motive.

      Capitalism is not a side issue. It is the central issue.

      • NathanUp@lemmy.ml
        1·
        1 year ago

        While you’ve ignored, or grievously misunderstood, all of my points, I didn’t ignore yours; it just has absolutely no bearing on my position that:

        This article doesn’t necessarily make a statement on whether FOSS is compatible with capitalism.

        …and you haven’t said anything that convincingly disputes that statement; if your very obviously correct point that profitMotive + softwareEngineer == proprietarySoftware was somehow meant to refute it, then I’m failing to see how.

        • buckykat@lemmy.fmhy.ml
          02·
          1 year ago

          Failing to state their incompatibility is logically identical to stating their compatibility. This is trivial.

          • NathanUp@lemmy.ml
            1·
            1 year ago

            Let me make sure I’m understanding:

            If I don’t tell you that I love bananas, then, logically, this means that I hate bananas?