On 6/19/07, Jan Harkes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
You keep referring to the four freedoms so I googled for them and found http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html So which of the freedoms did Tivo take away? * The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0). * The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this. * The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2). * The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this. It doesn't seem to me they took away freedoms 1, 2 or 3. They released the source to any free software components and we can study, modify, redistribute, improve and release our improvements for the benefit of the whole community. btw. freedom 3 seems to be just repeating what we already got from freedoms 1 and 2. So the only one we could differ in opinion about is freedom 0. I would say that they in no way are limiting my use of the Linux kernel (which is the part I mostly care about) I can run the program for any purpose I see fit. What if I want to run mythtv on my PC at home? Tivo has no control whether or not I can do so even when my kernel contains any of their modification or improvements, so I claim that I in fact retained freedom 0.
Much as I hate to extend the life of this execrable thread, since I think Alexandre makes Sisyphus look like a hard-nosed pragmatist, it seems pretty clear that TiVO impinges "[my] freedom to run the program, for any purpose" if "any purpose" includes "make my TiVO do what I want," and likewise to "adapt it to [my] needs" -- freedoms 0 and part of 1. It is just disingenuous to argue otherwise. Dave - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/