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Did you mean to post on a different thread?

mjevans 6y ago
The best parts of the life work of RMS are related to the understanding that Liberty can only be achieved if the means of discourse and use of language generally are free and open to all. Without free general computers and the free access to learn from and build upon the works created by those who came before us, we have no collective shoulders of giants to stand upon and continue the advancement and change of society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_to_Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_to_Read
- Godel_unicode 6y ago
  And yet a truly stupendous amount of meaningful, useful work is done using evil, proprietary, closed-source Windows every day. How can this be?? This story does a great job of fear mongering, but that's about all it's good for.
  - ReptileMan 6y ago
    Because on windows you are close enough to free. Raging twitter mob cannot force microsoft to prevent windows from working on your PC, you can install any app without microsoft approval etc etc ...
hinkley 6y ago
I sense a glitch in the matrix.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
smitty1e 6y ago
I was pining for a free alternative to the App store and its ilk. Not that I'm averse to paying for things; rather, a real capitalist hates to see the seller capture the market.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > a real capitalist hates to see the seller capture the market A real capitalist seeks to be the seller that captures the market.
  - smitty1e 6y ago
    Capitalism is buyer/seller/marketplace in lawful, competitive tension. A captured market is cartels, not capitalism. Which is what TFA is complaining about.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > Capitalism is buyer/seller/marketplace in lawful, competitive tension. > A captured market is cartels, not capitalism. No, capitalism is the economic system, dominant in the mid-19th century developed West, characterized by private ownership and unrestricted control of the means of production, and “capitalist” can refer either to a supporter of that system or member of the upper class in that system or similar systems which have priavte, though more restricted in use, ownership of the means of production, defined by deriving sustenance mainly from returns on their ownership of the means of production. Capitalism has a strong tendency toward cartels and capitalists (in the second sense) tend to seek to capture markets (to have, in the words of startup culture, a “moat”). Efforts to limit the free employment of capital to limit the development of monopolies/oligopolies/cartels were, along with the imposition of various basic rights for labor which also limit the free employment of capital, among the reactions against capitalism that became prevalent during the peak of the capitalist period and which propelled the progression from capitalism proper to the modern mixed economy.
      - smitty1e 6y ago
        The irony of anti-capitalist efforts is that they tend toward monoculture: a single strong actor controlling everything, e.g. the USSR. Capitalism is the worst thing going except pretty much everything else. Focus on the feedback loops that keep the markets fair for your Pareto optimal operating point.

The best parts of the life work of RMS are related to the understanding that Liberty can only be achieved if the means of discourse and use of language generally are free and open to all. Without free general computers and the free access to learn from and build upon the works created by those who came before us, we have no collective shoulders of giants to stand upon and continue the advancement and change of society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_to_Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_to_Read

Godel_unicode 6y ago
And yet a truly stupendous amount of meaningful, useful work is done using evil, proprietary, closed-source Windows every day. How can this be?? This story does a great job of fear mongering, but that's about all it's good for.
- ReptileMan 6y ago
  Because on windows you are close enough to free. Raging twitter mob cannot force microsoft to prevent windows from working on your PC, you can install any app without microsoft approval etc etc ...

hinkley 6y ago

I sense a glitch in the matrix.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

smitty1e 6y ago

I was pining for a free alternative to the App store and its ilk. Not that I'm averse to paying for things; rather, a real capitalist hates to see the seller capture the market.

dragonwriter 6y ago
> a real capitalist hates to see the seller capture the market A real capitalist seeks to be the seller that captures the market.
- smitty1e 6y ago
  Capitalism is buyer/seller/marketplace in lawful, competitive tension. A captured market is cartels, not capitalism. Which is what TFA is complaining about.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > Capitalism is buyer/seller/marketplace in lawful, competitive tension. > A captured market is cartels, not capitalism. No, capitalism is the economic system, dominant in the mid-19th century developed West, characterized by private ownership and unrestricted control of the means of production, and “capitalist” can refer either to a supporter of that system or member of the upper class in that system or similar systems which have priavte, though more restricted in use, ownership of the means of production, defined by deriving sustenance mainly from returns on their ownership of the means of production. Capitalism has a strong tendency toward cartels and capitalists (in the second sense) tend to seek to capture markets (to have, in the words of startup culture, a “moat”). Efforts to limit the free employment of capital to limit the development of monopolies/oligopolies/cartels were, along with the imposition of various basic rights for labor which also limit the free employment of capital, among the reactions against capitalism that became prevalent during the peak of the capitalist period and which propelled the progression from capitalism proper to the modern mixed economy.
    - smitty1e 6y ago
      The irony of anti-capitalist efforts is that they tend toward monoculture: a single strong actor controlling everything, e.g. the USSR. Capitalism is the worst thing going except pretty much everything else. Focus on the feedback loops that keep the markets fair for your Pareto optimal operating point.