From: Andrew Webber (awebber_at_sgml-mercs.com)
Date: Sun Apr 11 1999 - 22:03:20 EDT
On Sun, 11 Apr 1999 18:37:39 -0700, David Goldman wrote:
>While I agree that the ThinkPads mailing list is not the place
>for a flame war (and has been free of such for a long time),
>neither do I believe that it should be a forum for piracy
>advocates and warez. In all truth, I was greatly saddened
>that NOBODY else had mentioned the piracy issue for over
>two hours after Barry Marks made his pro-piracy comment.
>Maybe I'm just very sensitive to piracy given that I make
>my living by creating, selling and supporting custom software.
>
>I renew my offer... If anybody (other than Barry) thinks that
>I was out-of-line with my remarks (or that piracy is 'OK'),
>then just say the word and I'll be gone.
David,
I have to admit that I didn't think much of the original
suggestion to go buy OSR2 in a way that doesn't conform to the
license agreement. I did mention it in my reply although I didn't
make a speech about software piracy. I didn't see much point to
it, in a forum occupied (I suspect) mostly by people who either
know it's wrong, or who already have Win98 or OSR2.
The above is just to make it clear that I agree we should all abide
by the license agreements (yes I tried what the tech suggested last
summer, but I do have OSR2 and it was an IBM issue causing the
problem; I don't know if I would have violated a license agreement
had it worked).
However, I must be very blunt and admit I'm not that impressed with
your argument. For one thing, equating software piracy with
selling drugs to kids or committing a hate crime (actually a hate
murder) is not very persuasive. I consider all three bad. But
there are degrees of evil. I make my living by (among other
things) creating custom applications, and I am very aware of
copyright and intellectual property issues. But don't try to tell
me that stealing my intellectual property is like tying a
homosexual to a fence.
Finally, your offer seems somewhat extreme. Why do you have to
leave the list if someone disagrees with your post? None of _us_
is throwing you out. I ignored it the first time you posted it
because you were obviously upset.
For the record:
--I think piracy is NOT OK.
--I think your remarks were out of line in that they do not allow
for degrees of "wrongness", but that's a difference of opinion.
--I think your remarks were out of line in that many ad hominem
remarks were directed Barry's way.
--I think you should stay on the list, contribute when you see fit,
and resist the ad hominem remarks.
If anyone thinks the above is wrong, please feel free to tell me
here or in private email. But I won't unsubscribe if you do.
andrew
------
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Andrew Webber [awebber_at_sgml-mercs.com]
SGML Mercenaries
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