Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!serene!rfarris
From: rfarris@serene.UUCP (Rick Farris)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: Advertising on comp.emacs
Message-ID: <204@serene.UUCP>
Date: 13 Dec 88 02:38:12 GMT
References: <33379@bbn.COM>
Reply-To: rfarris@serene.cts.com (Rick Farris)
Organization: Serenity Systems
Lines: 28

In article <33379@bbn.COM> dsill@RELAY-NSWC.NAVY.MIL (Dave Sill) writes:
> the FSF *is* providing a service of great benefit to the community.
> Can you say the same about any for-profit organization?  

Well, sure.  I'd say most for-profit organizations are providing
services of great benefit to the community.  At least the ones that
are making a profit.  Otherwise the community wouldn't be supporting
them with their dollars.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not denigrating the FSF; I think they're
doing a *great* job.  I just don't think that there's any difference
in paying their programmers, and paying other programmers.  The whole
idea behind the FSF, as I understand it, is that they are volunteers,
working for "the cause", not a paycheck.  If we begin funding the
programmers, then we've just turned them into another low priced
software house that sells source code.  I don't even have a problem
with that, as long as it's clearly understood that that is what's
happening. 


> Would you rather fund more free software or some company president's
> Jaguar?

I don't really care, as long as I get a good product at a fair price,
with good support.
-- 
Rick Farris   RF Engineering  POB M  Del Mar, CA  92014   voice (619) 259-6793
rfarris@serene.cts.com     ...!uunet!serene!rfarris       serene.UUCP 259-7757