"John A. Martin" <jam(a)jamux.com> writes:
> Let folks use Emacs atop Windoze -- Good (exposes the unwashed to the
> wonders of Free Software).
>
> Let folks use Appgen atop Linux -- Bad (exposes the initiate to the
> wonders of applications not bundled with the OS).
Er -- no.
I think that giving people the freedom that the GPL does is a moral
good. How to achieve that goal is a matter of pragmatics and
strategy.
I think that Richard is right in his assessment that the inclusion of
well-advertised functionality for using ssh in Emacs will remove some
impetus towards making a free version of ssh. I didn't even know
that ssh wasn't free, and I doubt that many people do, precisely
because it has become the de facto tool for encryption in free software
circles.
> Four legs, good. Two legs, {bad,better}. -- Apologies to George
> Owell, _Animal Farm_, Secker and Warburg, London, 1945.
I don't quite understand what you wish to achieve by this escalation
in rhetorics over a point of *strategy*. People will disagree on
what's the best way to achieve things -- nobody here has a crystal
ball to tell them how things will turn out.
> If the freedom to be secure in one's communication is at least as
> important as the freedom to use Free Software then the following
> points seem to be pertinent.
And if not, they are not.
Some people are of the opinion that, say, support for audio devices is
as important as freedom. I don't think so.
> Moreover, which do you think will be more likely to use the GPLed lsh
> when it becomes a viable option: those that have used ange-ftp/efs
> with ssh1, or those who have adapted proprietary solutions like ssh2
> or the like apart from Emacs.
The latter people.
--
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
larsi(a)ifi.uio.no * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen