> > RMS is an interesting guy. He does tend to stake out one extreme on > the > intellectual property rights spectrum. I've had many a stimulating(?) > discussion with folks who advocate a form of Marxism for software: that > is, > all software should be freely available to all, and magic elves/the > state/some entity will ensure that the writers of such software will > have a > roof over their heads and food to eat, because it's a sharing of a > societal > good thing. Sadly, even in the halls of academe such a situation > doesn't > really exist. RMS knows this and has a finely nuanced way to deal with > it.
Jim, RMS makes a distinction between patents and copyright. Remember that the GNU Copyleft is a copyright, used to defend free software. There is nothing wrong with copyrighting your work, and being paid for it, and indeed making money from it. It is the patents which lead to the absurdities of companies scrambling for patents for commonsense techniques - in order to build up that portfolio to brandish at other companies. The contents of this email are confidential and for the exclusive use of the intended recipient. If you receive this email in error you should not copy it, retransmit it, use it or disclose its contents but should return it to the sender immediately and delete your copy. _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
