"Joshua S. Freeman" wrote:
>
> most of you've probably read this article calling into question, on
> ethical grounds some of the claims and attitudes of the open source/free
> software 'movement'..
>
> it's thought provoking...
>
> http://www.sdmagazine.com/features/2000/03/f4.shtml
>
> cheers,
>
> J.
>
I actually read it when it became noticed on Slashdot.
Thought-provoking, yes, as in Bertrand Meyer may be great at Software
Development, but he knows nothing about the Free Software movement.
Among his gems:
------------------
It should be pointed out, however, that the existence of a
community of dedicated, well-intentioned and sincere
defenders
of a cause is unrelated to the ethical value of that
cause. As an
example, one of the tragedies of the twentieth
centuries has been
the diversion of the energy and passion of countless
honest and
idealistic volunteers towards support for Soviet-style
communism, a regime that cause tens of millions of
deaths,
uncounted cases of human misery, and the destruction of
civil
society in entire countries. This example is obviously
not a
comparison with the free software community, simply a
reminder
that no idea can be justified on the basis of the
quality of its
supporters. The observation works the other way too:
bad people
can defend good causes. A corrupt and dishonest
politician may
sincerely support principles of democracy and freedom.
His
personal failings do not disqualify the ideas of
democracy and
freedom any more than the Nazi regime's impressive
building of
autobahnen disqualifies the merits of freeways.
------------------
Can we call Godwin's Law? What does the fact that some people
supported the Soviet Union & Nazi Germany have to do with Free
Software? BTW: after this, he then castigates the community for NOT
throwing ESR out because ESR is a libertarian. hmm.
A few paragraphs above, he defines "Free Software" -- needless to
say, it's not the FSF's definition. Then, he proceeds to castigate
RMS & others for not following his definition. He complains that,
when his compiler developers discovered a problem with GCC, the GCC
community didn't drop everything & fix it.
As someone in the Slashdot discussion pointed out, he commits just
about every error of logic & debate possible.
--
jeff smith
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thought for the day: A friend of mine won't get a divorce, because he
hates lawyers more than he hates his wife.
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