Raul Miller wrote:
If one distributes cocain because he wants to be more popular it is bad no matter on degree it increases people dependency.Distributing cocaine is illegal. If we're distributing anything illegal in non-free, we should of course stop immediately.
Ethics does not operate on the level "legal" vs "illegal". It operates on the level "good" vs "evil". We perfectly know that the law != ethics. Ethics is counted when law is created. Law makers try to reflect ethics, but not perfectly.
It does not matter very much from ethical point of view, if distributing cocain is legal or illegal. Important is harm which cocain makes to people. If distributing cocain is legal somewhere this doesn't mean, that it is O.K. to distribute it from ethical point of view.
Especially, if it is done by the person very good acquainted with the harm which is produced by cocaine, for example by the popular and famous doctor. Doesn't matter if the reason is to attract patients from competitors which use heroin.
Also, if we're distributing any software which consistently reduces a the user's life expectency, we should stop distributing that software on moral grounds.
Exactly. I hope you do not think, that non-free software is a healing water. -- Best regards, Sergey Spiridonov -- Best regards, Sergey Spiridonov