From kde-licensing Fri Apr 17 00:26:37 1998 From: Alex Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 00:26:37 +0000 To: kde-licensing Subject: Re: [freeqt] Re: FreeQt concerns X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-licensing&m=89277272708122 How's this for a COMPLETELY off topic rant, to distract ya'll. On Thu, 16 Apr 1998, Kevin Forge wrote: > The truth is that if KDE had started as the GNOME project ( with the > same tools and priorities ). It would not today be as good as GNOME is > today and GNOME may not exist. True enough. > What about free software ? Well I chose Linux for the same reason I > chose OS/2 years ago. It is the best OS I tested at the time. The > fact that it's price is within my grasp and the source code is available > is cool too but in reality when I download a Linux distribution the only > source code I get is the Kernel, and only because it is needed for so > many tasks. I hear so many people say stuff like "Don't trust an OS without source". That's all good and well, but how many people have actually USED the source for their own modifications? Not many (esp. within the whole target audience of KDE/Gnome). [...] > You live in America. America has been free for so long most Americans > don't even understand the deference between being free and being bound. > Example ; Political leaders have been saying for centuries how freedom > of a nation or an individual come from political systems that do not > permit abuse by others. Religious leaders have been saying that freedom > is within your own mind. That's not entirely true. America, while democratic to a fault, is not as free as many would tout. In fact, I've heard it touted somewhere that England rated higher in some study of personal freedoms (Although, this is completely unverifyable on my part). Hell, it's illegal to smoke in bars, smoke underage, illegal for me as a minor to swear at school, and highway checkpoints directly violate the search and seizure clauses (or whatever ya feel like callin em) of the constitution and it's ammendments. [...] - alex "Contrary to popular belief, penguins are not the salvation of modern technology. Neither do they throw parties for the urban proletariat."