GNU/Linux

[Michael Hansen]

I appreciate the contribution GNU has made to the GNU/Linux/Apache/etc (the
list of contributors goes on and on) system.  In all honesty though, I don't
think most users are concerned about the FSF's crusade (I know Linus for one
isn't, and it's his kernel), and I'm _sure_ that this list isn't set up to
be a soapbox to sing out the praises of the FSF's philosophy.  Before we
even have hardware that JUST WORKS with Linux, we're already arguing over
naming conventions, demanding this or that distribution be offered by
Dell because it's 100% free, and so on.  In the end, you alienate more
people than you bring in (perhaps even Dell), and that's not healthy for the
GNU/Linux/Apache/whatever system as a whole.  This isn't everyone's holy
war.

And free means just that -- free.  I'm free to call GNU/Linux whatever the
heck I want.  I'm FREE to use proprietary drivers if I so choose.  Free
doesn't mean free as long as you adhere to one man's (or one group's)
philosophy of what freedom means.  If the FSF insists on their definition of
freedom, then by that definition, I am no longer free.

In short, please stop trying to shove all this down this list's throat.  We
can see your signatures and we can go check out the pages if we want.  All
this list noise doesn't help anything, ESPECIALLY your own crusade, whether
you believe that or not.


Regards,
Mike


On 3/3/07, Guy Johnston <guydjohnston at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> Adrian Midgley wrote:
> > Guy Johnston wrote:
> >> ... However, I'd like Dell to refer
> >> to it by the name 'GNU/Linux', as that's the most accurate and fair
> name
> >> for the complete system,
> >
> >
> > Footnote territory.
> >
>
> Please remember to choose 'Reply all' or the equivalent, so the message
> gets sent to the list as well.
>
> A footnote acknowledging the importance of GNU to the "Linux" operating
> system would be much better than no acknowledgement at all.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Guy
>
> --
> Please avoid sending me Microsoft Office files - see
> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html.
> Don't get Windows Vista, get GNU/Linux - see http://www.getgnulinux.org.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Linux-Desktops mailing list
> Linux-Desktops at dell.com
> http://lists.us.dell.com/mailman/listinfo/linux-desktops
> Please read the FAQ at http://lists.us.dell.com/faq
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-desktops/attachments/20070303/0f8e593a/attachment.htm