Re: [gentoo-amd64] Re: How To Play WMV (thread drift - slaveryware)

[Boyd Stephen Smith Jr.]

On Friday 29 September 2006 15:10, "Bob Young" <BYoung@××××××××××.com> 
wrote about 'RE: [gentoo-amd64]  Re: How To Play WMV (thread drift - 
slaveryware)':
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: felix@×××××××.com [mailto:felix@×××××××.com]
> > With Linux, even
> > if I can't do it, there are hundreds of thousands of people who could,
> > and it would only take a few bucks or a good friend to do it.  It is
> > not only possible, easily, but also there is a lot of choice on how to
> > do it.
> From the end users perspective s/he is still dependent on
> someone else to make the changes. I wouldn't say having a choice of who
> to be dependent upon actually qualifies as "freedom."

If system X has all the choices available under system Y and system Y lacks 
at least one choice that is in system X.  System X is definitely more 
free, and that choice is most definitely a freedom.

But different freedoms have different values to different people; they also 
aren't the only thing that has value to many people.

I think Duncan has adequately justified his use the the terms "slaveryware" 
and "freedomware", and neither your rationed discourse, nor your 
(sometimes unfounded) assertions (that seem to be increasing in frequency) 
have convinced me otherwise.

I think I'm just going to have to disagree with you on this point, but feel 
free continue your attempt to convince me otherwise, either on- or 
off-list.  I feel that you understand the freedoms provided by free 
software at or beyond my ability to explain them so, I leave you to judge 
those freedoms and Duncan's speech as you will, for now.

-- 
"If there's one thing we've established over the years,
it's that the vast majority of our users don't have the slightest
clue what's best for them in terms of package stability."
-- Gentoo Developer Ciaran McCreesh