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On 16 May 2004 at 20:22, Rui Miguel Seabra wrote:
I agree that what is important are the ideals of Free Software, but what you're saying is stick the ideals on the freezer and just show free appliations that work on non-free software.
No, that's running free software on a non-free operating system. It's quite a different matter the other way round.
That's not the purpose of Free Software, you're not getting the ideals, I'm afraid.
Y'see, I'd say that's exactly what "the movement" is doing right now. It is obvious to anyone that some day all common bits of software will be communal. However the strategy, which this thread is about, will determine when that day arrives.
I think how we're doing things now will cause a petering out of growth. I don't see the market being able to support more than 15-20% free software boxes. That leave 80-85% of the market for MS to continue to exploit to the detriment of all mankind.
You're promoting freedom wearing shackles.
As they're noticing in Iraq, you don't spread democracy by going in and stamping it on people who don't understand it. Instead you plant the seeds and it's the people themselves who generate their own revolution.
To draw an analogy, free software has founded its own democracy but is separated by great distance from the rest of the world. The rest of the world looks at us and is impressed but feel far too uncertain to follow. Thus the repressive dictatorships continue unabashed.
If we really want to maximise the spread of this ideology (as we should for the good of mankind), we need to plant seeds. Setting an example is not enough - we need something others can take hold of and make their own revolution. That means not requiring them to install a new operating system - as BeOS, Nextstep and countless others have found, it must have hardware & software compatibility for people to feel safe enough to try it out. Hence cloning Windows! :)
Cheers, Niall