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He's not trying to force others, it's a request with his explanation. "While the GNU General Public License expressly prohibits me from denying you the freedom
by itg 13y ago
He's not trying to force others, it's a request with his explanation.
"While the GNU General Public License expressly prohibits me from denying you the freedom to port software protected by it to Windows, I feel that you do great damage to the world if you do. Let me explain."
- octopus 13y agoYou mean he is not trying to force developers. What he suggests is that programmers should not port his code to Windows because this will keep the Windows users ... well happy Windows users.
- loup-vaillant 13y agoThink of it from an environmentalist point of view: this is a call to boycott companies that harm the environment. You don't have a problem with calls for boycott, do you? There are other examples. The computer industry for instance is very polluting. On the other hand, computers are very useful, and very convenient. What to do? Limit your consumption of computers of course. This means, among other things, do not buy a new cell phone every 1-2 years. This also means, boycott companies who perform planned obsolescence, (this includes Apple). A sufficiently massive boycott could force those companies to rethink their position, to a point where even people who don't care about the environment won't buy so much useless upgrades.
- joesmo 13y agoThis hardly sounds like freedom to me.
- loup-vaillant 13y agoOf course. This example is about protecting the environment, not freedom. I'm just saying the mechanisms are similar.
- octopus 13y agoYou don't have a problem with calls for boycott, do you? I don't know, I guess it depends, I reserve my right to judge on a case by case basis.