06.02.11
Gemini version available ♊︎
Posted in Site News at 3:04 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Software and ethics discussed in a new letter to the editor
Prinz and his prior 2 letters to us made some interesting points and were well laid out. In a followup letter from Prinz [PDF] he explains what he meant by Ethical Software. This long letter contains many visual illustrations, so please consider taking the time to read it and provide feedback. █
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twitter said,
June 2, 2011 at 6:53 pm
There is no “freedom of choice” on Windows or any other non free software. The software’s owner has all of the power including the power to terminate your use at any time for any reason. Steve Ballmer once gloated he would “outsmart Linux” by tricking developers into making all of their innovative software for Windows. That is reason enough to avoid supporting Microsoft’s dying platform but the more fundamental reason to drop Windows is that it will never be free and therefore never be ethical.
People should also avoid non free software on Linux because it is always a bad deal. Not only can the owner terminate the service at any time, the software can’t be modified to do what the user wants and might contain malicious features that compromise the user’s privacy and ownership of their computer.
The solution to the problems raised by Prinz lies in Microsoft’s hands. Only Microsoft can make Windows ethical, free software. Only software freedom will solve issues and concerns with Windows.
I explained most of these points the last time Prinz sent a letter. This time, I’m getting tired.
My best suggestion to Prinz is to dump Windows. GNU/Linux distributions have a number of good print subsystems that turn any document into a PDF, so that no one needs to use Acrobat Distiller 10.0.1 on Windows. The pdf so generated reveals another name for the author and the name of the file, which is Letter.htm in a “Download Files” directory. The file name suggests this letter was authored by more than one person, perhaps in different locations. The previous letter had the title, “New Page 1″ which might indicate what editor was used to create the source document.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Maybe this was made on a machine at work. Let’s not leap to conclusions.
twitter Reply:
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Suggestions are not conclusions.
Hopefully, our friend will understand why even a little non free software is harmful.