Re: [dwm] Freedom (was: Re: sic ipv6 patch)

On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 8:31 PM, Matthias Kirschner <mk_AT_fsfe.org> wrote:
> There are people (like) you who say modified BSD/MIT licenses are more
> free, because users/developers have the freedom to make the software
> unfree. (More a freedom of the individual.)

No no, it's not just "people" saying that, but also every dictionary
in the world; some examples of dictionary definitions of freedom:
- "the power to determine action without restraint."
- "the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc."
- "the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint
from within or without; autonomy; self-determination."

Since the GPL puts more restrictions on the user, it provides less
freedom. Period. There's no arguing about that, at least not without
maiming the definition of freedom.

Now don't get me wrong: I agree that for some developers/projects the
extra restrictions of the GPL are necessary, or at least desirable;
what annoys me is that these extra restrictions are all too often
advocated as "freedom".

Restrictions are NOT freedom, no matter how morally justified they are.
I'm not arguing against the GPL, I'm arguing against the abuse of the
word "freedom" for its cause.

We have dictionaries for a reason, and when people start inventing
their own definitions of words because it makes what they're doing
sound better, we'll soon have Babel all over again.

Greetings, Sander.
Received on Mon May 19 2008 - 22:38:23 UTC