Two idiots wrote:
[A load of crap]

LOL! I'm getting quotes from Madonna now ... the fountain of knowledge,
and coincidentally on the same moral and intellectual plane as Quark.

Oh but sorry, I forgot, we must worship her like a Goddess because she
made barrel-loads of money doing the music industry equivalent of porn.

I'll bear that in mind next time I send Torvald's a cheque for the right
to use Linux. Oh wait ... I don't do that ... nobody does, because it's
free (and Free). He makes his money though corporate investment in his
work, not by holding end-users to ransom with licensing. But he's smart;
he's figured out that there are ways of making money other than running
a protection racket or locking people in to closed formats. And by all
accounts he quite good at making money - not as good as Pearly and
Sweaty mind you. No, to be /that/ good you need to be a morally
reprehensible and ruthless bastard, who's more than happy to exploit
people like cattle. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

Of course what Linux lacks in licensing income, it more than makes up
for in voluntary contribution of time and effort. Time and effort that
is /given/ away, by people like me, and thousands like me. And why isn't
/that/ exploitation? Simple - lack of obligation, that's why it's called
"voluntary". But then certain people will never understand the concept
of altruism - they're too greedy and self-absorbed - and quite proud of
it too, in that sick and evil way that such people are. Not that I'd
ever accuse Pearly and Sweaty of such behaviour mind you - no, I'm sure
they're going to make /paying/ for Windows a purely voluntary thing any
day now, and open up their sources so we can finally verify the
existence of that NSA back door. Probably.

But why should Microsoft simply "give away" their "valuable"
intellectual property? Why indeed? It's an affront to capitalism; quite
unthinkable. One simply cannot have enough Billions of dollars in the
bank, or enough Mercedes Benz's or heated outdoor jacuzzis.

And yet here we are, Free Software contributors - /giving/ away our
work, free and without obligation ... and still managing to somehow make
a living - with a clear conscience. Amazing, isn't it?

--
K.
http://slated.org

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| "Proprietary licenses, the crack cocaine of software finance."
| - Matt Asay, CNET