3 ms·
>I find ironic his insistence that I cannot control software I create -- because no one should be allowed to control software -- is, in and of itself, controlli
by quanticle 15y ago
>I find ironic his insistence that I cannot control software I create -- because no one should be allowed to control software -- is, in and of itself, controlling.
Not really. Stallman is actually making a very libertarian point when he insists that users have the right to modify and redistribute software. He's saying, in essence, "Your rights end, where mine begin." To Stallman, every user has the right to modify and redistribute software, just like they have the right to modify and resell any other tool they use. As a software developer, you don't have the right to take away a user's software because they modify and resell it.
- jroseattle 15y ago> To Stallman, every user has the right to modify and redistribute software, just like they have the right to modify and resell any other tool they use. I guess we should then be permitted to modify and resell a book, a movie, or anything else that's the output of one's thoughts? If that's where the argument ended, I would simply say "well ok" and move on, but Stallman goes beyond that. He wants to dictate what terms I would put around any application I provide as a product, simply because it's in the realm of software. As if software is this magical land where I have no say in anything I produce. Framing this industry as somehow different based on a simplistic parallel of hard goods = soft goods is disingenuous.