Re: OT: America's Army

[Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com>]

Don Werve <donw@yosemite.examen.com> writes:

> On Mon, Jun 23, 2003 at 11:43:34AM -0400, Bijan Soleymani wrote:
> > 
> > That's not a fair comparison. Sexual preference is not a choice. And
> > secondly it doesn't really concern anyone other than the person and
> > his/her partner.
> 
> Actually, that's exactly why this is a fair comparison, IMNSHO.
> 
> First, licensing choice is probably pretty similar to choice in sexual
> partners, to be honest; they are both heavily influenced by culture,
> upbringing, and philosophy, and probably even genetics.  It's not
> unlikely that there might be a combination of genes that controls how
> 'generous' an individual is likely to be.
> 
> Second, licensing doesn't concern anyone except those who voulentarily
> engage in the relationship.  Outside of food, water and shelter, we
> don't really need much; using software, especially software written by
> someone else, and even more especially a bloody *game* is a choice.

Yes I agree it only effect those who engage in it. That's why I
*choose* not to engage in proprietary software licenses. It is my
choice to refrain from doing so.

> > I dislike proprietary software because it can't be copied and
> > modified. It limits my freedom and that does concern me. That seems
> > very reasonable to me.
> 
> Good.  Write non-proprietary software, than -- I do.  At the same time,
> I respect the rights of others to do whatever the hell they want with
> the things they create.

Respect my right not to use that software if it takes away some of my
rights.

>  As long as both sides of the proprietary-vs-open debate maintain
> this respect, there aren't any problems.  The issues only arise when
> one side tries to play Mafia in telling the other side what to do,
> as is the case both with Microsoft, and with open-source zealots
> screaming, "But all code should be open!"

I didn't tell them what to do. I just said that if they don't make it
Free I won't use it (unless I have no choice). Are you saying I should
be forced to use it?

Bijan