OSS Advocacy Help 9030

On Saturday 18 February 2006 09:09, Erik Funkenbusch stood up and spoke the following words to the mbuttes incomp.os.linux.advocacy...:

See Erik, this is where you're wrong. Or at least: you should have said that differently...

What you did just back there, was tell the OP that the software must fit the needs first, and that he should therefore use the software that fits those needs, regardless of whether it's Free Software, Open Source or proprietary.

Richard Stallman also knows that there may be proprietary code out there that does a particular thing better than that Free Software does it, but RMS believes that advocation of Free Software includes having to opt for the slightly lesser Free Software variant over the more efficient proprietary variant, and that is a principle he himself would live up to.

I'm not necessarily saying that one should do as RMS does, but what I am saying is that one should follow one's beliefs and principles. If one feels strongly enough about FOSS, then one should indeed look for a FOSS application and accept the lesser functionality or efficiency. To do the opposite would be opportunism and is therefore void of any defendable conviction.

Your stance on FOSS versus proprietarymayat best be neutral - personally, I believe you to rather advocate proprietary software and-or against FOSS; I'm expressing myself carefully here - but the OP doesn't share your conviction.

It is therefore wrong to impose your own vision upon someone who clearly states that he's looking for an Open Source application because it *is Open Source.

-- With kind regards,

*Aragorn* (Registered GNU-Linux user #223157)