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I would say rather that the GPL treats "the user" and "the developer" as one and the same, and while this is often not true in practice it is an important princ
by dTal 10y ago
I would say rather that the GPL treats "the user" and "the developer" as one and the same, and while this is often not true in practice it is an important principle; without it, the user can never become the developer. And only a tiny fraction of users need to become developers for every user to benefit.
(A distinction not unique to software, and under threat in other places as well: "no user servicable parts inside". Many might be helpless, but who could argue that enforced helplessness is a good thing?)
- dsr_ 10y agoThe essence of the UNIX philosophy is not "make small utilities that can be fitted together with pipes" but to assume that at any moment, a user might decide to be a developer or a sysadmin and should have the tools to do that. The problems of UNIX generally come from assuming either that users are never devs and sysadmins, or that all users are devs and sysadmins.