Wednesday, February 08, 2006

RMS doesn't own my brain

RMS has another rant going on over at LinuxP2P which is nothing new, but, this time he's slamming the Creative Commons people because they offer choice. Well, because they offer some choices that he disagrees with, coupled with the fact he thinks everyone else is too stupid to understand and differentiate those choices.

I respect the technical work he's contributed to the Open Source arena, I use xemacs daily, I use gcc, I use gdb. But, what's inside my head, even once I type it into xemacs and compile it with gcc, still belongs to me Richard, and I do have the right to decide what happens to my thoughts, just as you have the right to decide what happens to yours. Even if they are expressed in the form of a computer programme, or a catchy song.

The whole notion that my thoughts are not my own, because they're not a physical object, or because they're easily duplicated is rubbish.

If you want to release your code under the GPL, that's your right, I respect your right to do it. When I modify and distribute GPL code, I respect the license.

Please respect the rights I have to decide what I do with my own thoughts, I respect yours.

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