🚀 go-pugleaf

pld@whopper.lcs.mit.edu (Peter L. DeWolf) writes:
>   Now, you've just announced that you are going to carry on RMS's
> tradition of "Let us Withhold Information from the ENEMIES of the One True
> Way of Free Software and PUNISH those Evil Benighted Users of the machines
> of the Powerful Evil Empire of AT&T, Apple, etc. for having the GALL to
> actually Support the Damned Companies by OWNING and trying to USE their
> computers.  May they be DAMNED to PERDITION for making this Mistake!  Let
> the WRATH of the FSF and LPF be on their heads, so help us RMS!"

I think you misunderstand.  Nobody's suggesting punishing Apple for being
enemies of free software.

What Apple are doing which is wrong is telling me what I may or may not
write.  They are threatening people with user interface copyright lawsuits.
They are telling me that I may not use an icon of a trash can on any desktop
program I write.  They are telling me that I may not use pull-down menus. 
They are telling me that I may not have multiple overlapping windows with
icons to represent files.

That is unreasonable.  How I choose to make my programs behave to the user is
my business.  Their attempts to extort money from others or gain a market
monopoly on effective GUIs must be resisted.

No doubt there are many people who own Macs who are stuck with them.  But
that doesn't make them blameless; they should be screaming at Apple to change
their policies, doing their best to avoid using Apple software and hardware
in the future, and warning others about the risks of owning Apple kit.

>   As a number of people have correctly pointed out, you have every right
> to choose to not carry newsgroups you disagree with.  As I subsequently
> pointed out, you do NOT have the right to cut off such newsgroups without
> informing your downstream sites of what you are doing.  And, preferably,
> WHY you are doing it.

Yes he does.  It might not be very polite or considerate, but he most
definitely has the right.  The UK backbone site, UKnet, has cut off the feed
of newsgroups without informing downstream sites, and has only explained why
when questioned.


mathew