Re: Bitkeeper outrage, old and new

Richard Stallman
2002-10-19T22:39:34Z

Please note that linux-kernel is a highly technical list, it's
not a list to discuss software development ethics.

A technical issue or project sometimes raises ethical issues. When
that happens, discussing the ethical issues is an essential part of
the technical discussion. A discussion which ignores the ethical
aspect of the issue is severely incomplete.

That does not happen often. Most of the decisions in a technical
project are purely technical, and whatever is technically best is
really best. After many such issues, it is easy to start thinking
that raising ethical issues in a technical issue is improper, that
there is some virtue in keeping technical decisions away from ethics.
That is a the worst mistake an engineer can make.

Freedom includes
for me that I can use any software that I have legally licensed (or
written myself) without people complaining about it publically.

You are asking for the power to silence criticism. That is not
freedom, that is a power.