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06:39 schestowitz; "/join_sublin"
06:39 schestowitz; "I have changed the title from "Truth Social as an example of the
06:39 schestowitz; limits of free software."
06:39 schestowitz; Abe Indoria wrote:
06:39 schestowitz; > > I understand the limits of free software. One problem I identify is
06:39 schestowitz; > > that some people use free software not because they value freedom, but
06:39 schestowitz; > > simply because it is economical to do so.
06:39 schestowitz; > Why is this a 'problem?'
06:39 schestowitz; Simply preferring free software for its economy is not a problem.
06:39 schestowitz; Exploiting free software for its economy will lead to problems. Those
06:39 schestowitz; who take economy too far consider gratitude a waste. Whenever I see
06:39 schestowitz; lack of gratitude, I sense a problem.
06:39 schestowitz; 1. I recall the days before Linux when only GNU software was
06:39 schestowitz; available. GNU tools were better than those that came bundled with a
06:39 schestowitz; Sun workstation. We respected the authors of GNU software.
06:39 schestowitz; When Linux appeared, it was promoted to the general public with a
06:39 schestowitz; catchy phrase: "It all started with one e-mail." I found this highly
06:39 schestowitz; problematic. What does "all" mean? If it is "all of the kernel" then
06:39 schestowitz; it's okay. However, the term "Linux" was commonly used to refer to
06:39 schestowitz; the entire OS. For most people "all" meant "all of the operating
06:39 schestowitz; system." Spreading a slogan like this discouraged users from thinking
06:39 schestowitz; about the engineers who worked on vital components in an earlier
06:39 schestowitz; phase. Ever since, telling people the real development history has
06:39 schestowitz; been an uphill struggle.
06:39 schestowitz; I believe that this was a deliberate campaign to discourage people
06:39 schestowitz; from feeling and expressing gratitude. It is manifest in persistent
06:39 schestowitz; opposition toward usage of the term "GNU/Linux." Conversely, those
06:39 schestowitz; who say "Linux OS" often believe that Linus Torvalds wrote the entire
06:39 schestowitz; OS, or at least laid down the foundations upon which his supporters
06:39 schestowitz; built. Yet, those with such misguided belief may be better than those
06:39 schestowitz; who don't care.
06:39 schestowitz; In general, understanding of a useful tool or skill or a fair social
06:39 schestowitz; institution is accompanied by respect toward the people who toiled to
06:39 schestowitz; bring it into existence.
06:39 schestowitz; 2. Four years ago Richard Stallman was harshly criticized for allegedly
06:39 schestowitz; defending Jeffrey Epstein. Lack of understanding and respect toward
06:39 schestowitz; Stallman made the campaign possible. To defend Stallman, one often
06:39 schestowitz; has to start with: "Please visit the site stallmansupport.org and read
06:39 schestowitz; 'Who is Richard Stallman?'" To those who agree that he has made
06:39 schestowitz; contributions toward a fair and just society we can say: "It is rude
06:39 schestowitz; to treat him this way. Please do not be misled by fabrications."
06:39 schestowitz; Unfortunately it is difficult to request a prudent approach to the
06:39 schestowitz; common man who feels: "I don't see anything wrong in being sloppy and
06:39 schestowitz; rude. This man deserves no better."
06:39 schestowitz; 3. There is an abundance of information on computers and software.
06:39 schestowitz; Much of it is composed by people with a stake in a particular product
06:39 schestowitz; and propagated without much critical examination. I notice that the
06:39 schestowitz; articles fit with one another poorly. One may read many of them only
06:39 schestowitz; to end up bewildered.
06:39 schestowitz; Indeed many people do not desire new information about information
06:39 schestowitz; systems for this reason. As a result they know too little of the
06:39 schestowitz; technology that shapes their daily lives. This makes them feel
06:39 schestowitz; powerless. Some believe that major tech companies are exploiting
06:39 schestowitz; their ignorance; this is not altogether false. Ignorance also has
06:39 schestowitz; security implications. Sadly most people are not able to overcome
06:39 schestowitz; such ignorance, in spite of the severity of the problems it invites.
06:39 schestowitz; To overcome ignorance, one should keep in mind to be grateful during
06:39 schestowitz; the inquiry. That way the pieces integrate better. In the end one
06:39 schestowitz; gets to see the big picture.
06:39 schestowitz; 4. It is possible to get people to understand technology better and
06:39 schestowitz; respect Richard Stallman more in a single stroke. The key is gratitude.
06:39 schestowitz; Tell people how the GNU project made replacements of UNIX programs
06:39 schestowitz; one by one. This approach worked well because the Bell Labs researchers
06:39 schestowitz; had done a great job in breaking up the OS into distinct units. When
06:39 schestowitz; telling this story, I stress that we should thank the Bell Labs team.
06:39 schestowitz; Stallman shows little gratitude toward Bell Labs; his primary concern
06:39 schestowitz; is the non-free nature of original UNIX programs. I identify a
06:39 schestowitz; weakness here which I believe has cost him and his followers dearly.
06:39 schestowitz; 5. Gratitude also means gratitude toward people who read our messages
06:39 schestowitz; in mailing lists and such, including this one. Some readers send
06:39 schestowitz; responses, and it may contain criticism. Those who value gratitude
06:39 schestowitz; appreciate criticism while those who don't turn hostile.
06:39 schestowitz; Nobody has yet commented on the last paragraph of my opening message,
06:39 schestowitz; in which I summarize classical Chinese philosophy. "Gratitude" (li) is
06:39 schestowitz; a word that appears frequently in "The Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu)."
06:39 schestowitz; According to Confucius, in the absence of gratitude, many things go
06:39 schestowitz; awry.
06:39 schestowitz; I give several examples above. Confucius taught me where to look.
06:39 schestowitz; In Japan or China, instead of writing in detail like this, sometimes I
06:39 schestowitz; can just quote a phrase from "The Analects" and it will satisfy most
06:39 schestowitz; people. This is not appropriate here where we have people with
06:39 schestowitz; various cultural backgrounds.
06:39 schestowitz; Even in East Asia, few people look for solutions for social issues
06:39 schestowitz; surrounding modern technology in the teachings of Confucius who is
06:39 schestowitz; widely considered to be a conservative philosopher. Not infrequently
06:39 schestowitz; people are astonished when I demonstrate that his teachings resonate
06:39 schestowitz; with the doctrine of free software.
06:39 schestowitz; Thank you for reading.
06:39 schestowitz; "
06:39 schestowitz; https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2023-09/msg00012.html
=> ↺ https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2023-09/msg00012.html
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06:42 -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-lists.gnu.org | On gratitude and free software
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