lkml.org 
[lkml]   [2003]   [Jul]   [24]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
Date
SubjectRe: SCO offers UnixWare licenses for Linux
From

On Thursday, July 24, 2003, at 07:42 PM, Larry McVoy wrote:

> By your arguments, anything fundamental needs to be free. Let me
> know when
> you get a free house, car, food, health care, etc.
>
> Until then, we live in world with certain rules. You don't have to
> like them
> and you are welcome (in some countries to try and change them) but
> until you
> do, you have to obey them or go to jail (or whatever the repercussion
> is).

Well, certain countries give free health care, and eventually the
United States will probably have to approach that due to the baby boom
and the medicare problems currently. However, a hospital in the United
States cannot deny medical attention to someone in need, regardless if
they can pay for it or not.

I think there is a difference between everyone getting everything free,
and some people in need getting what they need to survive. Government
subsidized housing is nothing new for low income families. The same
goes for food. You can then argue that in Africa, people starve.
However, you would have to look at the relief aid organizations that
are trying to change that.

The problem that arises is that not everyone has the MEANS to be able
to afford the fundamentals that are required to live. Many human
beings feel it is necessary to help those in need since many of us
(myself included) have much more then the average person.

Larry, I may only be 22, but I recommend you travel to some places like
Egypt (and yes, I have been there) or parts of Eastern Europe, or even
Mexico (and not Cancun or any beach front for tourists, I mean Mexico
City). You may disagree that humans should help out other humans in
need, but you would at least realize how fortunate the majority of us
are. I would say that anyone who can afford to own a computer, be
online, and all that jazz that goes along with being a geek, are quite
fortunate indeed. Sure, everyone has their problems, but you never
grew up knitting rugs so that you could afford a menial meal each day.

I think Linux and free software in general have an idea of this, and
that is why many people feel that software should be free. Computers
are becoming a fundamental need in life to survive in an increasingly
competitive world. I would argue that they are becoming more
fundamental to everyday life then a car is. Not only can it be
considered as a method of economic survival, but also a tool for
cultural understanding and communication. Communication is probably
the most fundamental human need (after life sustaining needs), and
computers allow that to happen at a level no one imagined.

This is all a philosophical argument with very real applications to the
everyday life of most people. To get back to the topic of IP, overall
IP creates scenarios where corporations impede on the progress of human
beings. For an extreme scenario, what if someone could patent a new
method for food production that could eliminate starvation worldwide.
Would that be right to not allow it to be utilized for the betterment
of society, or should one corporation, knowing its value, rule over the
world and force its will upon humanity?

Another scenario (totally hypothetical, IBM is only an example with a
huge patents collection!), much less extreme, which in all reality
would hurt your livelihood as well. What if a corporation like IBM
pulled out a patent which gives them the right to all the work you have
done. You as the engineer who designed Bitkeeper are entitled to
certain rights. You developed an implementation of a system
independently of anyone else's source control system. However, one
corporation that really didn't have a great interest in it pulled out a
patent which basically destroys your current method of livelihood,
regardless of the fact that you independently implemented it. How
would you feel? What would this do?

If IBM had no product anywhere close to the functionality of Bitkeeper,
the world would be forced to use inferior source control products
because of the whim of one corporation. Is that right? IBM would be
in fact stifling not only competition in the source control world, but
progress as well.

Think about all of this, travel around, see the world. It will make
you a better person. This isn't about a person's right to sell things,
a person's right to own things, or the dissolution of the capitalistic
state. It's about fundamental humanity.

Michael Bernstein
michael@seven-angels.net

-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/

\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2005-03-22 13:47    [W:0.309 / U:0.272 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site