[CS-FSLUG] The Moral Foundation of Free Software

[Don Parris]

On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 15:12:56 -0500, Fred A. Miller <fmiller at lightlink.com> wrote:
> On Sun January 2 2005 2:20 pm, groundhog3000 wrote:
> 
> [snip]
> 
> > At this point I should note that people aren't stupid.  In the 80's we
> > used green screen IBM termnals, Dos terminals and old Unix machines
> > from who knows where.  Where those people any smarter than workers
> > today?  (Some, including me, could argue that they were).  However,
> > all in all, I don't see any reason why an employee can't learn to use
> > a Linux solution (if one should exist) rather than a rather expensive
> > M$ or Windoze compatible solution.
> 
> You ARE quite right! Employees who are smart enough to do the work of the
> position they are in, are smart enough to learn the KDE desktop. Further,
> they learn it and for example OpenOffice VERY quickly!! All the nonsense
> about retraining is just that.............NONSENSE. Anyone who can't (or
> won't) EASILY switch from 'Bloze to Linux on their desktop, should probably
> be released from their present position.
> 
> > That said, the initial cost of Windows doesn't seem all that bad to
> > people when it comes preinstalled on every computer in the world
> > just about.
> >
> > Can you spell, MONOPOLY.
> 
> Try "IMMORAL monopoly."
> 
> Fred
> 
I remember at election time, the pastor of the church I'm presently
involved with telling us we needed to vote acoording to our values. 
He reminded the congregation that certain things in Scripture simply
are not debatable.  Some of those non-debatable issues were on the
table for the election.  If abortion is really one of those values
(and for many Christians, it is)  then what does that say about how we
spend our money?  If we support  abortion by voting for a pro-abortion
candidate, then we're also supporting it by purchasing products from
companies that donate money to pro-abortion charities.

This is one reason why Fred suggests MS is immoral.  Another is their
abuse of their monopoly.  I actually agree with this viepoint
wholeheartedly.  If a local vendor shows up in the news as providing
poor quality service (one station helps people get their money back),
I am less likely to do business with them.

DCP
-- 
DC Parris GNU Evangelist
http://matheteuo.org/
gnumathetes at gmail.com
Free software is like God's love - 
you can share it with anyone anywhere anytime!