Leaving Freenode behind

[Christopher Dimech]

> Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 8:48 AM
> From: "Jean Louis" <bugs@gnu.support>
> To: "Christopher Dimech" <dimech@gmx.com>
> Cc: "Stefan Kangas" <stefan@marxist.se>, "Richard Stallman" <rms@gnu.org>, 
> emacs-tangents@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: Leaving Freenode behind
>
> * Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com> [2021-06-22 09:40]:
> > It is unfortunate to think that the moment one markets something,
> > then it is corrupt.  There is nothing wrong with a business or an
> > industry.  Business means that something that someone needs, someone
> > decides to provide.  As long as it is a legitimate business and people
> > are paying their taxes.  Of course for a cost, because if it needs to be
> > sustained, there has to be a cost.
> >
> > Till people give up this attitude, free software will not spread
> > across.  Free software must go to every village if the urban people
> > pay for it.  That is my mission and I will take it there.
>
> What you don't see is that free software WAS always one or the other
> business. There is nothing wrong and was never wrong in selling free
> software. That is how I found it, I have paid 90 Deutschmarks in
> Buchhandlung under Bahnhof in Stuttgart for the "Red Hat Linux" book
> with the CDs attached. That was in 1999. All my contacts at the time
> were with the companies selling free software on CDs. It was never in
> my mind a question that such would be "free". What was good with it is
> that license was permissive and I could buy one time and use it many
> times.
>
> So many times I have purchased Free GNU/Linux variations of OS-es in
> magazines or with books. In fact I used Internet so little, it took me
> few years to figure out that I could just download software. Until
> then I have been installing it from paid CDs.

I remember that time well.  That's how it was.

> Many companies are profiting on free software. It was since the
> inception of GNU with kernel Linux that it was sold and sold over and
> over again.
>
> How do you mean: free software will not spread? It runs now the
> majority of Internet, people pay for VPS-es, it is just everywhere,
> well spread.

Because the non-profit obsession is basically a dislike of those who are
successful.

> --
> Jean
>
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