Re: [!NEWS] The GNUtards Must Be Crazy

[Hyman Rosen]

Rjack wrote:
> The purpose of the GPL is to (illegally) thrust socialism upon a
> democratic majority who desire a capitalist system.

Since no one is forced to use the GPL, the GPL cannot thrust
anything upon anyone. Instead, the GPL fosters a communal arena
of code that is available to those who choose to participate.
It prevents the work of the community from being hijacked by
those who refuse to share the values of the community. It suits
both socialists, who like the notion of communal goods, and
capitalists, who like the notion that others can profit from their
work only if they in turn can profit from those others.

It is extremely ill-suited to whiners who feel entitled to the work
of others while denying those others the remuneration they want for
their work, namely freedom for their users.

> The purpose of the GPL is to destroy proprietary software.

The purpose of the GPL is to guarantee software users the right to
run, read, modify, and share software. To the extent that proprietary
software denies users these freedoms, it is the goal of the FSF to
have it not be used and to be replaced with free alternatives. But if
it is to succeed in doing so, it will be by offering a more attractive
alternative, not by force. That is known as competition, not socialism.