🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <ARTK.95Feb8093003@cc-color1.Congruent.COM> artk@Congruent.COM (Arthur Kreitman) writes:

   In article <199502060849.DAA05569@pogo.gnu.ai.mit.edu> rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Richard Stallman) writes:

   >   I'm told there is a discussion about whether it is wrong for the GNU
   >   project to have a special connection with UUNET, because Microsoft
   >   bought shares in UUNET.

     I heard that part of the Microsoft/UUNET deal was a secret arrangement
   between the FSF and Microsoft.  Is that true?  What are the detail of
   that FSF/Microsoft deal?

I thought a press release would come out before the info would
come out as rumors, but, since that hasn't happened, I guess I can
leak what little I know...

When Microsoft acquired the Roman Catholic Church recently, it also
acquired the rights to a developing relationship the RCC had with the
FSF to enforce free-software morality on hackers worldwide, who are
not generally religious.  It is uncertain whether this new morality
would go beyond the GPL to include the requirement that no artificial
attempt be made by a developer to prevent even experimental software
from reaching the Net and, as a result, possibly evolving into a
new package.

So, in a sense, yes, there is a deal between the FSF and Microsoft,
but observers are wondering how the deal will change since Microsoft
has fundamentally different views regarding software release than
even the pre-RCC incarnation of the FSF.  It has been noted, however,
that, in the past, religious leaders have often had no problem
violating morality laws they impose on their followers, so it is
possible Microsoft will cope.

:-)

--

James Craig Burley, Software Craftsperson    burley@gnu.ai.mit.edu