[LAU] Some disturbing news

Paul Davis paul at linuxaudiosystems.com
Mon Jun 4 17:45:25 CEST 2018


On Mon, Jun 4, 2018 at 11:04 AM, David Kastrup <dak at gnu.org> wrote:

> Louigi Verona <louigi.verona at gmail.com> writes:
>
> > My goal is to have an understanding of the world as close to reality
> > as possible. The faster I can correct my errors about reality - the
> > better.
>
> See, that's the problem.  Stallman has not set out to _describe_ reality
> but to _shape_ reality.  That's why he has formulated principles that he
> then focuses his actions about.  The purpose is to make his own actions
> more effective rather than excuse his own ineffectiveness.
>

​And you still haven't read Louigi's (long) piece.

I've been involved with GNU since about 1986, when a boss/mentor introduced
me to it, a step that would completely change my life. At the time, what
Stallman had diagnosed and then strategized about seemed utterly
self-evident to me, and it was a delight to find that there was an actual
effort/plan to do the right thing.​


> Moral principles are a personal choice.  You don't get to make his
> choices for him, he does not get to make your choices.  The consequences
> of his actions governed by his morals have an effect on my world that I
> have a lot more respect for than the consequences of your actions
> governed by your morals.
>

​This is needlessly ad hominem.​


> You want to be more correct than Stallman but that's not the category he
> is competing in.
>

​I don't think this is true. Stallman saw something happening in the world
that he thought was bad, even wrong. He wants to be correct that it is bad,
or even wrong. He came up with an idea to at worst limit the damage, and at
best stop the bad from happening. He wants to be correct that his idea will
at least not cause worse problems than the ones he identified, and at best
actually improve things in the direction he thinks is right. If you could
prove to Stallman that he was wrong about either of these things, I am
fairly certain he would change his mind.

Louigi's article is about both of these questions (and more): is Stallman
right that proprietary sofware is harmful? is it harmful in the ways that
Stallman claims? is Stallman right that free software is the right way to
tackle the harm (if any) that proprietary software causes?

I don't entirely agree with Louigi's analysis and answers to these
questions, but I do think that Stallman's analysis and understanding is
necessarily incomplete, in part because changes since the conception of the
GNU project have really had fundamental impacts on who uses computing
devices and how. Because the analysis and understanding is incomplete - I
mean, even the GPLv3 still can't cover the situation of audio plugin APIs
as just the most trivial example of its incompleteness - I am not certain
that Stallman's own conception of the right way forward will actually
accomplish what he wants. I am also uncertain that what he wants is
necessarily (a) what most people want (b) actually good for most people (c)
good for software development.

The fact that I object to the capitalist imperative that I compete with my
fellow humans in order to survive, rather than cooperate with them, the
fact that I believe that the software development process enabled by the
GPL is better for all software and ultimately all software users, the fact
that I don't believe that software should be patentable, and many more
related facts too ... these do not add up to my unfailing faith in
Stallman's diagnosis and plan. and they do not stop me from being willing
to ask the sort of questions that Louigi poses.

Thus far, I am satisfied that continuing to develop software as part of the
"GNU universe" is the right thing to do. But it doesn't require me to cast
anyone questioning that as an idiot, or self-deceiving, or ignorant, or
naive, or evil.
​
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