20 Dec
2005
20 Dec
'05
12:26 p.m.
[...] and in Dave's case, it's his freaking
software. He can do
with it whatever he likes.
Absolutely. But, conversely, if we (FSVO
"we") want to think less
of him for choosing that way, that's up to us. IOW, you're saying it's OK to be a bigot.
If you count bias against people who do things which harm society as
bigotry, then yes, I believe it's OK to be a bigot. (Whether this case
is an example, that's a different question.)
"I don't hate him because he's German, I
hate him because he's not
FSF."
If you really believe that being non-FSF makes one strongly detrimental
to society, I consider that a perfectly reasonable consequence. (I may
disagree, of course, but that's a separate question.)
Now, of course, if that hate gets translated into certain kinds of
action, that may be a problem, but it's a separate problem.
I don't hate Dave because-- well, actually, I don't hate Dave at all; I
rather like Dave, even after this incident. I don't *think less of*
Dave because he's white, or uses classic computers, or lives in
Ontario; I think less of Dave because I think his software distribution
policy choices contribute to holding back the state of the art.
It's his software, plain & simple. He has the
right to do with it as
he wishes, bar none, and that's that.
Here again, I see "it's his right to do that" being used as if it
implied "it's not a bad thing for him to do that". As I explained in
another message, I do not agree with that leap.
Would it not be "unfair" to dislike you
because you run BSD instead
of Linux?
Not especially. I'd disagree, of course, but I don't see anything
unfair about it, any more than it's unfair to dislike me because I
drink lots of milk, or drive a car, or shave my scalp, or play pool,
assuming you feel similarly about everyone who drinks lots of milk, or
drives a car, or etc. (BTW, of those four, I actually do only two; the
others are hypothetical.)
Expecting everyone else to live to *your* standards is
a bit of a
stretch... is it not?
Yes, it would be. But I don't, not for any of the meanings of
"expect" (though I'm somewhat unsure about the "consider reasonable or
due" meaning). I just think less of those that don't. At least for a
(relatively) few standards I consider important enough - basically,
those from which I see harm to society proceeding.
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