Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!texsun!pollux!ti-csl!m2!holland
From: holland@m2.csc.ti.com (Fred Hollander)
Newsgroups: gnu.gcc
Subject: Re: Free [Software] Foundation
Message-ID: <80065@ti-csl.csc.ti.com>
Date: 6 Jun 89 16:06:56 GMT
References: <1107@mailrus.cc.umich.edu> <8906040445.AA04908@hop.toad.com>
Sender: news@ti-csl.csc.ti.com
Reply-To: holland@m2.UUCP (Fred Hollander)
Distribution: gnu
Organization: TI Computer Science Center, Dallas
Lines: 47

In article <8906040445.AA04908@hop.toad.com> gnu@toad.com writes:
>Apple is free to use, modify, and distribute GCC, and I see no
>evidence of FSF wishing to modify the GNU Public License to prevent
>them.  FSF just wants Apple to have to do it all alone -- without help
>from the supposed friends of FSF -- because Apple is actively working
>in court to prevent the Foundation from doing what it is chartered to
>do.

You must have missed all of Stallman's postings.  He emphatically
prohibited Apple from posting any messages in this news group, even
though the postings were strictly in line with the charter of FSF.
That is, David Berry, who works at Apple, announced that he ported gcc
to the Macintosh.  This entire discussion is a result of Stallman
implicitly changing the GNU Public License so that any organization
that does not succumb to his political beliefs or does not meet with
his ideals is not free to participate with FSF.

>A lot of people think that FSF is there to provide them great software
>for free.  This is not true.

It is certainly clear now that this is not true.  Why not put the political
requirements in the charter?

>Peter Honeyman would like to use FSF software without the politics.
>I can understand that.  I'd like to use Peter's software without
>the politics, but AT&T won't give me the source -- seems they have
>a political position about that.

I doubt that it is political.  They probably have a commercial view on that.

>The people who wrote the GNU software that you get for free, were
>inspired by the idea that it would always remain free.  The reason
>that brilliant programmers wrote that stuff was because they knew it
>would be used and learned from and improved by anyone who wants to.

Anyone but Apple, right?  This is the true double talk.  And perhaps
you missed Stallman as he cited FSF's real charter:

	"The GNU project's purpose is politics."  --rms


Fred Hollander
Computer Science Center
Texas Instruments, Inc.
hollander@ti.com

The above statements are my own and not representative of Texas Instruments.