🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9104292009.AA01975@mole.gnu.ai.mit.edu> rms@GNU.AI.MIT.EDU (Richard Stallman) writes:
| Finally, it was suggested that we would do better to support Apple
| machines and let the market beat a path to our door.
| 
| That was the plan I started with.  **Apple is trying to make this
| illegal**.  The whole point of their lawsuit is to stop people from
| writing desktop systems.  If we want to be *allowed* to write software
| and let the market choose, we have to fight for our freedom to do so.
| That's what the boycott is for.
| 
| We are still free to do certain things.  We are free to support GCC on
| the Macintosh if we want.  But, supposing we do, and supposing the
| users love it and flock to it, that won't do anything to protect our
| freedom to write a desktop system.  Even if we convince lots of Mac
| users that a free compiler is wonderful, it won't influence Sculley.
|   
| The GNU system must have all the features users expect in a system,
| including a desktop, in order to succeed.  If any important component
| is made illegal, the GNU project fails, and all the work done on it
| becomes a waste.

Excuse me, I don't believe that Apple is trying to stop everyone from
writing desktop systems, however they are trying to get Microsoft and
HP to pay royalties for selling user interfaces which are very similar
to Apple's.  Apple does not mind if someone creates a graphical user
interface, unless it looks alot like the one that they developed!  In
comparison with AT&T, Apple is not trying to charge people for using
X windows, like AT&T is!

What I would like to ask you is, why doesn't the FSF create an
alternative OS that is better than Apple's, and runs on their hardware?
There is nothing legally preventing that, is there?  If there was such
an OS, then Apple's users would naturally prefer it, and Apple would
lose much of their market influence due to the free market's behavior.
(The only problem with this is that I don't think that it's possible to
come up with a user interface that is substantially better, or even as
good as Apple's!  But this is just my own opinion.)

I think that this boycott stuff is a bit childish, and not very
effective at hurting Apple or their average users.  The people that it
impacts are users who are sophisticated enough to benefit from GNU
software, and who happen to be restricted to Apple hardware.

I wish that the FSF didn't have as one of it's policies, that it wants
to hurt certain people, groups of people, or companies.  In contrast,
I wish that the FSF was only interested in helping people!  Isn't this
a more peaceful approach?

--Haydn

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;;  *****************************************************
;;  *  Haydn Huntley    huntley@copper.ucs.indiana.edu  *
;;  *****************************************************