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Re: Icon designer wanted (Aquamacs Emacs)


From: Paul D. Smith
Subject: Re: Icon designer wanted (Aquamacs Emacs)
Date: 06 Jan 2006 16:55:36 -0500
User-agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.4

%% Tim McNamara <timmcn@bitstream.net> writes:

  tm> If the goal is to promote freedom for computer users and to change
  tm> the world for the better, then attention must be paid to the
  tm> useability of free software and removing the obstacles to adoption
  tm> by the mainstream.

Of course one of the goals of free software, like any software, is to be
useful and usable.  The stance of the FSF is that this goal is less
important than the fact of the software being free.

You are requiring us to make a false choice: freedom or convenience.
That's not an either/or situation, ever.

If the choice is between having more convenient, NON-FREE software now,
or have less convenient software today and making steady progress
towards more convenient, FREE software later, the FSF will always choose
the latter.  In fact, even if the latter is not an option they still
won't choose the former, but in practice it's never not an option.


As for the predictions of doom if the former course is not pursued,
well, these predictions have been made time and time again ever since I
started using free software 17+ years ago.  It's still here, and going
stronger than ever.  I don't think the FSF's position has hurt its
cause; on the contrary there is plenty of evidence that it works.

Cheers!

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Paul D. Smith <psmith@gnu.org>          Find some GNU make tips at:
 http://www.gnu.org                      http://make.paulandlesley.org
 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist


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