News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Qt Could Go Proprietary, KDE Relationship and Qt-Based Fr... by enriquto on Monday June 01, 2020 @06:37AM (#23377090)
> Stallman's position is pretty extreme.

Stallman's position is not extreme. It is consistent and firm, but he tries to reach a reasonable compromise. In political parlance you could say that he's a reformist, not a radical. Notice that he argues that it is OK to use proprietary softare, for example for developing free software if it is the only option, or for communicating with other people that cannot use free software at the moment (e.g., zoom meetings). If that is the case, he urges you to at least tell your colleagues from time to time that there are other options and that you would prefer to use free software:

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/saying-no-even-once.html

The linked text is very clear and cannot be construed at all as "extreme". At the same time, he holds that while we can reach temporary compromises, proprietary software is always unethical and that we should strive towards freer options.

Re:Qt Could Go Proprietary, KDE Relationship and Qt-Based Fr... by MaxBarraclough on Tuesday June 02, 2020 @05:38PM (#23396633)
> The linked text is very clear and cannot be construed at all as "extreme". At the same time, he holds that while we can reach temporary compromises, proprietary software is always unethical

Right, and that's exactly what I'm referring to. It's pretty extreme how categorically the FSF applies the term 'unethical'. I'm not saying Stallman is incapable of ever making compromises.

If Vim were proprietary, I probably wouldn't use it, but freeware isn't unethical.

On the point of Zoom meetings, the FSF have just begun offering a Jitsi service to all Associate Members of the FSF.

https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/fsf-gives-freedom-respec...

Re:Qt Could Go Proprietary, KDE Relationship and Qt-Based Fr... by chx on Monday June 01, 2020 @06:46AM (#23377153)