Just a reminder of what is being asked here

Posted Aug 18, 2006 11:34 UTC (Fri) by Zack (guest, #37335)
In reply to: Just a reminder of what is being asked here by Erich_J_Ritzmann
Parent article: Linuxs iPod Generation Gap (Red Herring)

>Is it being suggesting we dismiss ESR's remarks on the basis of incompatibility with FOSS idealism?

Free Sofware idealism *is* long-run pragmatism. Claims one should prefer "pragmatism" over "idealism" are usually just a socially more acceptable way of saying, "I want this feature, for *me*, now."
If pragmatic at all it is only short-term, for a very limited group.

>What of the fact that erstwhile nearly bankrupt Apple has used a pragmatic hybrid OSS model to become what Linux aspired to be a decade ago?

Linux never aspired to anything except fun, and as it turns out, most developers are not having fun with proprietary bits.
Two decades ago GNU aspired to set out to create a Free operating system, and for most intents and purposes that operating system is a reality, with only those elements that are protected by laws sustained by businesses with insanely profitabel business models missing.

Apple has become what Microsoft aspires to; an operating system that gets free labour and goodwill for being open on one hand but really keeping everything proprietary on the other hand.

>because it fails to deal in a practical way with intellectual property issues that do not fit neatly into a GPL framework.

Trademarks are working out nicely.
Software idea patents are being dealt with accordingly.
Copyright has been enforced succesfully already.

But it's hard to tell what you mean if you use vague misleading umbrella terms such as "intellectual property"

>There is a place for FOSS idealism, but don't let it make us myopic.

There is a place for "pragmatism", and it's right where it should be. Users can install software that cannot be distributed together with free software or which is restricted from redistribution by regulations on *their* own computers, which, in a way, is what the whole game is about; that a user can be the master of her own hardware.

History tells us trading gold for mirrors and beads is not a profitable venture in the long run.