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Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!news!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!dls
From: dls@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (David L Stevens)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans,comp.protocols.tcp-ip,comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: Please boycott Xircom
Message-ID: <14568@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: 29 Sep 90 14:10:02 GMT
References: <1990Sep26.042027.23110@news.clarkson.edu> <5DN%9T*@rpi.edu>
Followup-To: poster
Organization: PUCC UNIX Group
Lines: 29

In article <5DN%9T*@rpi.edu>, faatzd@turing.cs.rpi.edu (Don Faatz) writes:
> 	As a community that benefits greatly from the efforts of people like
> Russ Nelson - we should STRONGLY support his position.

	Break out the ropes! There's gonna be a lynchin', Festus!

	Your sense of moral outrage is touching, but whether I support his
position or not will have to do with the merits of his position, thank you.

	From what I've seen, and from what I know about people, I doubt that
there was any conspiracy to steal anything. More likely is that they didn't
even read the conditions applied to it and when the knowledge of their mistaken
violation finally made it to the right people, they acted honestly and complied
with the copyright. I don't know the facts, and I doubt that you do either, but
assuming some good faith on both parts, that's what I expect happened.
	What seems to have you so upset is that they comply with the copyright
in the way you wanted. Well, big deal-- if they don't want to make *their*
sources available, they don't have to, and even in the eyes of a Free Software
zealot, that makes them no worse than every other company that does the same
thing. They didn't transfer ownership of Xircom to you, so why are you acting
like you have some right in deciding whether or not they distribute their
sources?
	Boycotting Xircom because Russ Nelson and Don Faatz weren't able to
impose their will on the people running Xircom isn't my idea of a worthy cause.
I can see where Mr. Nelson might be frustrated, and I'm sure he'll make every
effort to clarify the copyright conditions up front in the future, but that's
where it ends for me.
-- 
					+-DLS  (dls@mentor.cc.purdue.edu)