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From: david@doe.utoronto.ca (David Megginson)
Subject: Re: Atari ST emulator for the Amiga: Atari's position
Message-ID: <1990Oct18.212110.23843@doe.utoronto.ca>
Organization: Dictionary of Old English Project - U of Toronto
References: <2710@atari.UUCP> <6737@castle.ed.ac.uk> <40310@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 90 21:21:10 GMT

In article <40310@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> stephen@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Steve Whitney) writes:
>In article <6737@castle.ed.ac.uk> aiajms@castle.ed.ac.uk (-=Andy=-) writes:
>>GNU do not port their stuff onto Apple because of the
>>aggressive attitude they take to people emulating their products (NOT
>>PIRACY WHICH IS QUITE DIFFERENT) and the law suits that follow. 
>
>Nope.  As I understand it, the GNU issue had _nothing_ to do with emulation.

Emulating as in "copying the look and feel," I'd imagine. Certainly, Gnu does
believe in free software (free from restrictions, not free in price), but
their beef with Apple is that they have tried to keep other people from using
the GUI concept at all, not that they have tried to keep people from
pirating their own software. Most Gnu stuff is reverse-engineered from Unix
tools, but none of it is stolen. If (to give a hardware example) Atari
decided to run off and sue any micro supplier who sold PCs with a MIDI
port built-in (an original selling point for the ST), the FSF might get
upset.

Atari has a right to protect its software, just like Apple does. I like
free software and free movies, but I don't get upset because Cineplex
keeps me from sneaking in.


David Megginson
-- 
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/  David Megginson                      david@doe.utoronto.ca          /
/  Centre for Medieval Studies          meggin@vm.epas.utoronto.ca     /
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