[NCLUG] Re: Linux World domination (was "Re: NCLUG Digest...", etc.)

Scott Kleihege scottkly at frii.com
Thu Sep 18 20:47:18 MDT 2008


 > Assumptions can be very misleading ...

I urge you to take your own advice.

 > I happen to support Linux actively, it is great software, and provides a
 > valuable contribution to society. That is very different from supporting
 > other radical Linux backers that have a broader agenda, and open hate of
 > non-linux or proprietary software.

I seem to recall you supported SCO's lawsuit against IBM/Linux.  That makes 
me doubt the earnestness of your Linux support, but that is not the issue here.

 > That is very different from supporting other radical Linux backers that
 > have a broader agenda, and open hate of non-linux or proprietary software.

I don't think anybody here is proposing the legal abolishment of your 
freedom to create software using whatever license you choose.  There is, 
however, hope that free (as in freedom) software as a group will achieve 
majority market penetration and become the de facto standard.

 > I did not claim authorship as a natural right, I do claim authorship as
 > a legal right in the USA. I really don't care about, or care to debate,
 > that right is not universal on this planet.

Straw man fallacy [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man].  I was not 
questioning the "right of authorship", but the right to profit from creative 
works.  The right to profit from creative works, particularly software, is a 
political issue under debate in the USA at this point, with active lobbiest 
groups, including the RIAA, MPAA, and on the other side, the FSF.

 > I do not claim that advocating free software will lead to loss of author
 > rights, so their is no logical fallacy.

To be pendantic, I think you mean "there", not "their".

Your attempt to draw a correlation between "Linux World Domination", and 
"Free software taking away the freedom of consumer" is completely 
unsupported.  From there you went on to say that this is "the first step of 
removing the rights from all authors".  How is this not a Slippery Slope?

 > There is a very clear reason to have public domain and restricted
 > licensed (BSD, GPL) "free" software and other creative works, and I
 > actively support that. You are very confused if you do not understand
 > the difference.

This is begging the question 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question], "Do I understand the 
difference between different software licences?".  Yet another informal 
fallacy.  Irregardless of the answer, the degree of my software license 
knowledge has no bearing on "Linux World Domination".

 > I do not support those that wish to co-opt the free (as in freedom)
 > software movement to be the free (as in beer) monopoly software movement.

Another straw man to reduce the opposing side's argument to the patently 
absurd position that free software should, or even could, become a monopoly.

If you're going to reply, please keep it cogent.

-Scott



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