Re: [Fsuk-manchester] Ubuntu !free

[MJ Ray]

Noah Slater <address@hidden> wrote: [...]
> Religion's are a very familiar example of entire systems of society built on
> moral absolutes, which is probably why a lot of Free Software supporters have
> these charges leveled against them.

Only some religions are built on moral absolutes.  See
http://www.religioustolerance.org/abs_true.htm

Using religion as a metaphor for some Free Software supporters often
insults both.  Then again, I've met Free Software supporters who
really are religious about it...

> [...] As a young intelligent white male I feel your perspective of the job
> market might, possibly, be a _little_ skewed. ;)

Please play the ball, not the man.  As a young white male, there's
also a lot of funding that is closed to him.  I'm not familiar with
the current figures and I suspect life's still easier if you look WASP
(White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) than not, but it's probably not as
clear-cut as it used to be.

[...]
> > Joining a picket is unlikely to change things; quitting and starting a
> > company to provide free software that meets banks' needs is more
> > likely.
>
> Why does it matter what software a bank uses in-house? As it is not 
> distributed
> the Four Freedoms do not apply to this. IIRC, Stallman explicitly stated this 
> in
> his talk in Manchester last Month.

Network effects.  The bank's crap software works better with other
software from the same supplier, so it encourages the bank's customers
to abandon their freedom.  Slightly surprised Stallman stated that.

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef)
Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small
worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/
(Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237