Re: GPLv3 Position Statement

Chase Venters
2006-09-28T04:39:39Z

On Wednesday 27 September 2006 22:46, Sergey Panov wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-09-27 at 20:15 -0700, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> > So everybody - join the "Passionate Moderate" movement, even if you're
> > not in the US. We're not passionate about any of the issues, we are just
> > _really_ fed up with extreme opinions! And we're not afraid to say so!
>
> I hope you understand that "Passionate Moderate" is an oxymoron. And I
> do not believe RMS is a commie! To me he is quite a moderate figure
> (very strong principals and no diplomatic skills at all, but it does not
> mean he is an extremist).

After lots of careful consideration, I think it is fair to say that Stallman
vigorously and extremely promotes and stands by his ideals, but the ideals he
stands for aren't all that radical or extreme. That is the difference, isn't
it? Wouldn't we all love free software running on free hardware, supporting
free culture and talking over free spectrum? The biggest difference I've seen
in the movements is that one aims to strike a conservative and functional
balance while the other is always trying to push the envelope.

I sympathize with Richard on his avoidance of "open-source". I don't
necessarily take the same view, but I understand that his big concern is that
the message he feels is important will be lost. I also think some of the
things I've heard from the "open-source" side are too extreme - take, for
instance, ESR's idea that we don't need the GPL license at all. That sounds
like a nice world he's living in, but I'm not sure we're all on the same
planet yet.

The final GPLv3 may indeed go too far for many open-source supporters. But
then again, it is the FSF's license, and it should at least not surprise
anyone if they are more concerned with the ideals of the license rather than
current market realities. Market conditions change; ideals generally don't.

And I think society needs both kinds of people. We need strong leaders like
Linus to coordinate the effort of moving solar systems and strong idealists
like Richard to inspire minds. I'm not sure Linus or Richard would admit
this, but I speculate that in a world where only one of them existed, this
community would have accomplished far less than the one in which they both
act.

This is really why I got upset when I saw all the crap in the press over the
last few days. I think both sides have pissed the other off to the point that
some of us are actively forgetting that we're just, as Eben once
said, "singing slightly different lyrics to slightly different music, and
it's dissonant, and it jars us..."

Some amount of contention is naturally good, so long as it does not undermine
the great ends both movements are achieving. When our flamewars spill out
into the industry press, it's just likely to make both sides look crazy. I
wish that most people who choose to take sides could see (and acknowledge!)
the real value the other side has, even if they don't agree with the approach
or phraseology. And I wish that more of us wouldn't pick sides; that we'd be
those "Passionate Moderates" Linus just invented. But we do need loud voices!

Thanks,
Chase Venters