I've read that male dolphins try to have sex with humans, and female apes solicit sex from humans. What is wrong with giving them what they want, if that's what turns you on, or even just to gratify them? Richard Stallman More Quotes by Richard Stallman More Quotes From Richard Stallman Writing non-free software is not an ethically legitimate activity, so if people who do this run into trouble, that's good! All businesses based on non-free software ought to fail, and the sooner the better. Richard Stallman writing running people The Adobe flash plug-in is non-free software, and people should not install it, or suggest installing it, or even tell people it exists. Richard Stallman flash should people Every decision a person makes stems from the person's values and goals. People can have many different goals and values; fame, profit, love, survival, fun, and freedom, are just some of the goals that a good person might have. When the goal is to help others as well as oneself, we call that idealism. My work on free software is motivated by an idealistic goal: spreading freedom and cooperation. I want to encourage free software to spread, replacing proprietary software that forbids cooperation, and thus make our society better. Richard Stallman helping-others fun people I don’t have a problem with someone using their talents to become successful, I just don’t think the highest calling is success. Things like freedom and the expansion of knowledge are beyond success, beyond the personal. Personal success is not wrong, but it is limited in importance, and once you have enough of it it is a shame to keep striving for that, instead of for truth, beauty, or justice. Richard Stallman successful justice thinking Also, because schools must teach the spirit of goodwill, the habit of helping others around you, every class should have this rule: students, if you bring software to class you may not keep it for yourself. Richard Stallman helping-others should-have school Think 'free speech,' not 'free beer.' Richard Stallman speech beer thinking Talking about freedom, about ethical issues, about responsibilities as well as convenience, is asking people to think about things they might prefer to ignore, such as whether their conduct is ethical. This can trigger discomfort, and some people may simply close their minds to it. It does not follow that we ought to stop talking about these things. Richard Stallman ethical-issues responsibility thinking It's clear that other problems such as [...] the domination of business over government, science, thought, and society, are much bigger than non-free software. Richard Stallman bigger government problem Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system software free, just like air. Richard Stallman software able air Without absolute certainty, what do we do? We do the best we can. Injustice is happening now; suffering is happening now. We have choices to make now. To insist on absolute certainty before starting to apply ethics to life decisions is a way of choosing to be amoral. Richard Stallman choices decision suffering I consider that the Golden Rule requires that if I like a program I must share it with other people who like it. Software sellers want to divide the users and conquer them, making each user agree not to share with others. I refuse to break solidarity with other users in this way. Richard Stallman golden want people The principal lesson of Emacs is that a language for extensions should not be a mere "extension language". It should be a real programming language, designed for writing and maintaining substantial programs. Because people will want to do that! Richard Stallman real writing people The reason that a good citizen does not use such destructive means to become wealthier is that, if everyone did so, we would all become poorer from the mutual destructiveness. Richard Stallman everyone good good-citizen reason Proprietary software is an injustice. Richard Stallman proprietary injustice software In the U.S., you even lose legal rights if you store your data in a company's machines instead of your own. The police need to present you with a search warrant to get your data from you; but if they are stored in a company's server, the police can get it without showing you anything. They may not even have to give the company a search warrant. Richard Stallman legal lose you police Proprietary software keeps users divided and helpless. Divided because each user is forbidden to redistribute it to others, and helpless because the users can't change it since they don't have the source code. They can't study what it really does. So the proprietary program is a system of unjust power. Richard Stallman others study change power There is nothing wrong with wanting pay for work, or seeking to maximize one's income, as long as one does not use means that are destructive. Richard Stallman wrong nothing work long The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion. Richard Stallman more only women fashion
