On Mon, 2005-06-13 at 16:57 +0200, Marco d'Itri wrote:
> humberto.massa@almg.gov.br wrote:
>
> >> I still do not believe that this is "discrimination against
> >> persons or groups". This is an unreasonable interpretation of the
> >> original meaning of DFSG.5.
> >I, OTOH, do not believe that this is an unreasonable interpretation
> >of DFSG 5. Why should you exclude from the Free Software process
> >people that do not have the money to have proper internet access?
> Because this is not discriminating, if they care they can find the
> money, a sponsor or a different way to contribute.
> It is discrimination only if it relates to an intrinsic quality of an
> individual or group, like "you cannot use this software if you are
> black" or "you cannot use this software if you are the military".
What about "You cannot use this software if you are *in* the military"?
Military service is not an intrinsic quality of a person, and it would
not fail DFSG 6 under your strict interpretation, either, because I am
not prohibiting its use in the military (for example, civilian
employees, defense contractors, etc. may use the software), but merely
by military personnel. But I do not believe that this is a legitimate
argument. It is my opinion that the DFSG should be interpreted loosely,
rather than narrowly, to preserve people's freedoms, even those people I
abhor.
If it is your opinion that this theoretical clause should be prohibited,
where do you draw the line? What constitutes a group against which we
must not discriminate, and what does not? Do dissidents constitute such
a group?
Personally, I find your argument unpersuasive, because military service
is not an intrinsic quality, unlike ethnicity. If it is your claim that
the intrinsic quality of a group is that of the group, rather than of
the persons within it, which would at least be self-consistent, then why
are the groups "people without internet access" or "dissidents who must
be inconspicuous" any different than the military?
--
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