Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!helios.ee.lbl.gov!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!mcb From: mcb@ncis.tis.llnl.gov (Michael C. Berch) Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss Subject: Re: Why I do not support GNU Summary: A correction Message-ID: <559@ncis.tis.llnl.gov> Date: 20 Oct 89 01:15:19 GMT References: <8910160520.AA01740@sugar-bombs.ai.mit.edu> <1989Oct18.080236.23848@rpi.edu> Organization: Postmodern Consulting, Pleasanton CA USA Lines: 44 In article sja@sirius.hut.fi (Sakari Jalovaara) writes: > Here are a couple of quotes from article <330@ncis.tis.llnl.gov> > posted to news.admin and gnu.misc.discuss: > > > [From Usenet document "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies":] > > > operating system with freely redistributable source code. The GNU > > > ! Project is led by Richard Stallman. Note that use of these groups to > > > ! discuss topics considered contrary to GNU aims and political > > > ! philosophy are considered off-limits (e.g., porting of GNU code to > > > ! Apple machines, usefulness of intellectual property laws). > > The writer of the article says: > > > I am informed that the addtional sentence was written by > > either Len Tower or Richard Stallman. > > I have the entire article if you want it; it may also be in the > gnu.misc.discuss archives (possibly anonymous ftp in > tut.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/misc-discuss/gnu-misc-discuss.) I was the writer of <330@ncis.tis.llnl.gov> and would like to point out that my information as to the authorship of the paragraph was later shown to be incorrect. (It was from a source that I deemed reliable, under circumstances that carried a high probablity of correctness.) However, the paragraph itself, while not actually written by FSF, more or less correctly summarizes the attitude of Richard Stallman at least about the FSF lists/newsgroups, with the one proviso that the paragraph predates the promulgation of gnu.misc.discuss. His recent article in gnu.emacs titled "Proprietary Mailing Lists" reiterates this. Regardless of the matter of the text of Alternative News Hierarchies, the fact remains that FSF considers that it "owns" the GNU mailing lists and is therefore the entire authority as to their content, despite the fact that operation of the lists/newsgroups are not paid for by FSF but by a large number of cooperating sites including public universities and government sites that are legally prohibited from making gifts of public funds/facilities for private political advocacy. -- Michael C. Berch mcb@tis.llnl.gov / uunet!tis.llnl.gov!mcb