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Comment by kragen | Hacker News Reader

It's completely serious. Stallman thinks the social harm done by proprietary software licenses is greater than the good done by the ability to use the software. Do you think that's an unreasonable or laughable position?

The consequence that it is better to close down the clubs than to let them encourage proprietary software usage is almost inescapable given the above premise.

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Like most of us, I discovered programming using proprietary software (namely MS-DOS and QBASIC), and if an intolerant idiot tried to prevent me from using those tools, he would have been hit by a (then) heavy keyboard.

(by the way, the case against using BASIC is certainly stronger than the case against using proprietary software.)

Yeah, I probably would have felt the same way. On the other hand, it's fortunate that five-year-olds don't generally decide major public policy issues; I can remember a lot of things I felt similarly passionate about at the time.

It is unreasonable.

Just imagine the amount of wealth that has been created in the past couple of decades by using proprietary software.

Though one could argue the same could have been done with free software, he's saying (as you paraphrase) that it's better to have no progress at all than to have progress at the cost of using proprietary.

I do not think Stallman is saying that it is better to have no progress; he is saying that using proprietary software is un-progress, a kind of regression. I did not paraphrase his statements in the absurd fashion that you claim I did, and I would like you to retract that claim.

The consequence that it is better to close down the clubs than to let them encourage proprietary software usage is almost inescapable given the above premise.

1) cuban boys discovering hacking in computer clubs

2) something I'm too stupid to understand

3) clubs should be shut

Good work!

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