[linux-audio-dev] Re: [linux-audio-user] Free Software vs. Open Source: Where do*you* stand?

[David Kastrup]

Pete Bessman <ninjadroid at gazuga.net> writes:

> On Tue, 2006-02-21 at 11:06 +0100, David Kastrup wrote:
>
>> Pete complains that maybe he has listened too much to Stallman.  I am
>> afraid if he did, he did not understand too much.  Stallman is not a
>> person who promises superior quality of free software: that would be
>> the panacea of the "Open Software" camp.  Stallman says that he
>> refuses to use non-free software for ethical reasons.
>
> I know what he stands for, I just don't agree with it anymore.  I think
> it's illogical, and I think my subconcious always rejected it, and as a
> response to this psychological discomfort, I think I developed a knee-
> jerk "sucks" response to proprietary software.
>
> It's what psychologists call projection.  When confronted with a
> shortcoming in yourself, you project that same shortcoming onto others
> so you don't feel like it's totally yours to deal with.  You think OSS
> has UI issues?  You should see windows!  You think dependency hell
> sucks?  Well go check out DLL hell!  Etc.
>
> Basically, after years of forcing myself to accept a dogma that, upon
> closer inspection, I think is a bunch of baloney, I have a lot of poison
> in my brain that I need to remove so that I can think clearly, calmly,
> and rationally.  There are some ex-communists in the libertarian circles
> in which I tread, and they have the same kind of problem WRT Marx and
> communist ideology.  And current communists are engaging in projection
> and the like on an awe-inspiring scale.
>
> BTW, this isn't meant to equate OSS with communism.  I just want to
> drive home the point that I did not misinterpret one iota of the
> Stallman verse --- I'm just tossing it in the trash bin along with
> my Torah.

Well, what you theatrically toss has not been Stallman's invention at
all.  I recommend you search for another scapegoat.  He never promised
you a Rosegarden.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum