On Thu, 2005-22-12 at 05:41 +0200, I. I. Ooisen wrote:
> On Wednesday 21 December 2005 20:41, Cesare Marilungo wrote:
>
> > Please, don't get me wrong. But I actually fear the day in which
> > gnu/Linux will have a wider success. Because I fear that this will
>
> heh, you spelled "linux" with capital "l" and "gnu" with lowercase...
>
> > happen only if gnu/Linux will abandon (or at least hide) its real
> > strenghts and its real philosophy. Or worse it could finally become
> > just another commercial o.s.
>
> read my lips: this can never happen.
read my lips: proprietary kernel drivers.
Go buy a recent video card and see how much this can "never" happen.
How free is a system that can't DISPLAY VIDEO without proprietary
software? Not very free at all. (Yes, yes, it's only 3D _for now_, but
you get the point).
Ditto for wireless adapters, though not quite as bad a situation. Is a
system that can't even get on a network a useful one? Not in this
century.
The GPL protects a certain block of code from being made proprietary,
but it does NOT protect the ability for us to create a truly free
operating system, whatsoever.
I think "just another commercial OS" would be a good description of a
Linux system so bogged down with horrible proprietary crap (ie the same
shining standard of quality that windows enjoys.. ahem) that it's
unusable without it. OSX is composed of a lot of free software, but
it's not even close to a "free software operating system".
Translation: The war isn't over, and we aren't safe. :)
-DR-
Received on Fri Dec 23 04:15:04 2005
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