Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: boosting libg++ (was Re: g++ vs. cfront 2.0 in the Real World)
Message-ID: <1989Jul13.155934.29242@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <799@redsox.bsw.com> <6590194@hplsla.HP.COM> <318@gt-eedsp.gatech.edu>
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 89 15:59:34 GMT

In article <318@gt-eedsp.gatech.edu> baud@gt-eedsp.UUCP (Kurt Baudendistel) writes:
>...I recognize that this may seem to fly in the face of the spirit of the
>copyleft, but lets be realistic. If we are going to present ``free''
>tools to people (such as gcc) and then present some more powerful tools
>(such as g++) but throttle the usefulness of these new tools (by
>restricting the usefulness of libg++ via the copyleft), are we really
>working above board? 

You are suffering from a fundamental misunderstanding:  that the FSF's main
objective is to give away its software.  Wrong.  The FSF's primary goal
is to make *you* give away *your* software.  The bait is all the FSF
goodies; the hook inside is the requirement that you adopt FSF's beliefs
on software distribution.  The fact that you can nibble on some of the
bait without touching the hook is not an inconsistency; it's a free
sample to lure you into the candy store.  There is nothing unrealistic or
inconsistent about FSF's behavior, and hoping for changes in this is
foolish -- this is a religious issue that goes straight to the heart of
FSF's real motives.
-- 
$10 million equals 18 PM       |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
(Pentagon-Minutes). -Tom Neff  | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu