Re:An open letter to Richard M. Stallman
by dragonwriter on Sunday January 11, 2015 @02:23AM
(#8869354)
Its important to note, also, that for RMS the struggle is against non-free software, which is at times in conflict with what people who see free software as an ideological struggle to promote free software would view as desirable.
Its not just that its an ideological struggle for RMS, its what RMS sees that struggle as being about which can divide hi from others.
The problem is that the only way to win against non-free software is to provide viable free-software alternatives. Free software cannot win on ideology alone, it _has_ to provide the features users need.
The majority of programmers use free software for practical reasons and are willing to "compromise" with the desires of proprietary software companies.
For RMS free software is an ideological struggle. In his ideal world proprietary software wouldn't exist.