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I think you have to understand this as a question of strategy. GNU and GPL does not exist only as a free alternative as a gift to the world. They are both strat
by CuriousSkeptic 10y ago
I think you have to understand this as a question of strategy. GNU and GPL does not exist only as a free alternative as a gift to the world. They are both strategic creations to further the aims of the free software movement.
Your argument is more or less correct, but it's a feature, even as seen by free software advocates. Not really a fallacy.
Compare it to the argument for gender quotas. A fair criticism, along similar lines, is that if you really do believe in equal rights and fair chances then you shouldn't argue for gender quotas, as they are, in fact directly opposed to equal rights.
In both cases the argument fails because it conflates interim strategies, designed as bootstraping mechanisms, as an application of the principles it's supposed to further.
- jessaustin 10y ago"Strategy" is not an significant concept for free software critics like the parent. They have seen this argument, but they are strictly first-order thinkers so it hasn't registered for them.
- catdog 10y agoI think the GPL can be seen as a clever law hack (in the sense of creatively using something in ways not originally intended). In this case not to enforce restrictions in usage but to actually enforce the opposite.