Re: [tlug] GPL Quote

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Curt Sampson writes:

 > Which is fair enough. I have no objection to the existence of the GPL,
 > and not even very much objection to its popularity, but I have strong
 > objections to selling it as providing "freedom." That sort of Orwellian
 > doublespeak damages the language and our ability to reason.

Yes.  That is why I have long thought of the FSF as the "vanguard of
the Marxist-Leninist-Stallmanist revolution".  Of course, I don't
think of Stallman as a Stalin clone (though he *is* a control freak),
but rather as an extender of Leninist thought.

Note that there is a very strong relationship between this discussion
and the distinction between *political* freedom and *economic* freedom
that some (normally socialist or at least "progressive liberal") like
to make.  Free software is something new in history: in one aspect, an
example of true economic freedom (at least in potential).

 > > Others see it as the same sort of "Freedom" that black American's
 > > were given right after the abolition of slavery.  "You are free,
 > > now do what you are told."
 > 
 > I'd agree with neither the idea that the GPL provides "freedom" nor with
 > your characterization of abolition.

I take it you have never lived in Mississippi, nor even in Delaware
(or Ohio for that matter: "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming ...").

Those were precisely the cards that some (significant portion of)
Black Americans were dealt after the war.  Of course, Marx was right,
too: those were the cards that many Americans of any color, language,
or gender were dealt.

Another interesting thing about free software is that it provides true
social capital (as opposed to socialized == nationalized capital) for
probably the first time in history.  Whether this will make a
difference in the long run I tend to doubt.