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The kitten thingThe kitten thingPosted Nov 1, 2009 15:42 UTC (Sun) by dark (✭ supporter ✭, #8483)In reply to: Hudson: Corporate lobbying against free software by freemars Parent article: Hudson: Corporate lobbying against free software I'm always surprised when they try the kitten argument. It doesn't work out so well for the proprietary kitten vendor. Let's see: First of all, you don't get a free kitten. You have to pay for the kitten. But you don't get ownership of the kitten, just a license to take care of it. Ownership of the kitten remains with the vendor. The vendor does not guarantee the health of the kitten. If the kitten gets sick, you may return it for possible replacement or refund, at the vendor's option. You may not take it to an independent veterinarian or attempt to treat the kitten yourself. You are the only one licensed to pet the kitten. You may not let anyone else pet the kitten. You may designate one other person as a Backup Petter, as long as you ensure that you and the Backup Petter never pet the kitten at the same time. You must buy food for the kitten. You may only use food supplied by the kitten vendor. If the kitten vendor chooses to no longer supply food for this model of kitten, you must let the kitten starve. Failure to follow all of these rules will result in heavy fines and possible criminal prosecution. Alternately, you can get a free kitten from the free kitten project.
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The kitten thing Posted Nov 1, 2009 23:18 UTC (Sun) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link]
Not only that, but with the free kitten project you get the opportunity to breed the kitten, possibly improving its descendants and the lives of others by giving them also the gift of a kitten.
The kitten thing Posted Nov 2, 2009 18:41 UTC (Mon) by justme (guest, #19967) [Link]
I find it interesting that the proprietary software industry has tipped its hand - they understand, and are very happy with, the fact that their software is a burden to their customers.
Our best counter to the kitten argument is that the whole point is for the software to be a boon, and we allow the user to do whatever they have to to make their software a boon, even if they wish to fire us as their vet, groomer, trainer, and breeder.
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