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Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.announce
Subject: Re: Issues regarding Apple
Summary: 
Expires: 
References: <9010141905.AA07541@pogo>
Reply-To: gdrew@tove.cs.umd.edu (Greg Drew)
Followup-To: 
Distribution: gnu
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Keywords: 

In article <9010141905.AA07541@pogo> rms@AI.MIT.EDU (Richard Stallman) writes:
>Apple (along with Lotus, Xerox and Ashton Tate) is trying to make it
>illegal to write software even partially compatible in its behavior
>with existing software.  If you write a program that does a simular
>job, they will sue you.  This is not a negligible threat; Lotus has
>already won such a lawsuit.  If Apple succeeds in monopolizing large
>classes of window system features, it will be a disaster of the first
>magnitude.
>
>The Free Software Foundation's response to this threat is to boycott
>these companies.  That is why our software releases don't contain
>support for A/UX or for the Macintosh operating system.
>
>>From time to time, people ask on the net for help in using GNU
>software on those systems.  I hope all of you will join in the boycott
>and refuse to give such help--or any other kind of help with Apple
>systems.
>

...Deleted ...

     I understand your position, but I think maybe you should lighten up a bit
on us individual users.  Some people may be working on a platform like A/UX 
not because of any political decion they made - it may be corporte, 
institutional, etc policy which has placed one of these systems on someones
desk.  In effect you are punishing these people for the decisions made by
someone else.  I speak from experience - all Computer Science majors at my
undergraduate university (Virginia Tech) were REQUIRED to purchase A/UX MacII
systems.  I now have it, and on a graduate student's salary I don't even
have the option of moving to a more "politically correct" platform.  So, may
I suggest that you all spend your time on more positive activities like 
letter writing campaigns, public education, etc..  I will admit, though, that
these things take much more effort than simply not responding to requests for
help.
    I had been under the impression that the Free Software Foundation was there
to provide free software to everyone, without restrictions, fees, and other
unplesant "commercial" things.  I would submit that boycotting the users of
certain platforms is as bad as copyright wars.  Where large corporations
fight to restrict their software for their own personal projects, you are 
talking about restricting your software to those people who act as you wish
them to.  Your software/support is then not "free"; the payment is helping
in your cause.
    I do not agree with Apple's policies, and probably never will.  However,
I do have one of their machines (and actually like it)  and do not appreciate
being told that I am SOL because of what Apple is doing.
				-- Greg Drew
				   gdrew@tove.cs.umd.edu

Please direct flames to /dev/null