Re: Emacs project mission (was Re: "If you're still seeing problems, please reopen.")

[Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de>]

Hello, John.

On Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 14:32:50 -0700, John Wiegley wrote:
> >>>>> "AM" == Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de> writes:

> AM> Their way of making money is by immorally, surreptitiously, and in many
> AM> cases illegally collecting their users' personal data and selling it on.

> One thing the free software movement should strengthen is selling users on the
> merits of its ideals, and not try to distinguish itself by painting the other
> side in such a lopsidedly evil light.

You're suggesting that my sentence above is unfair and lopsided.  It was
intented to be accurate and fair, and I believe it is, as much as it can
be in a single short summary sentence.

> I know many people who work at Apple; I know family who work at Apple. All of
> my own hardware is from Apple. Yet they do not, as the above sentence might
> suggest, gather together in dark rooms to render kitten fat over bubbling
> cauldrons. If that sounds hyperbolic, it gives you some idea of how statements
> like the above come across to someone who is sympathetic both to users (who of
> course desire complete freedom) and corporations (who desire to stay in
> business, and are beholden to more entities than just their users).

I don't see what the above paragraph has to do with my sentence that you
quoted.  I purposely didn't include Apple in my "companies like that".
As you note, Apple has other flaws.  You seem to be denigrating what I
said by a straw man argument.

My point was that we should not encourage our users to submit to the
abuses of Google, Facebook et al. by facilitating the access to our
services to those who do so.  That would indeed be endorsement of them.

> Could large companies do better? Of course they could. The Free Software
> Foundation might even be the one to show them the path to a better way. But
> vilifying the opposition does not make your case in the eyes of those who
> don't already agree with you.

What I said is quoted above.  I believe it is literally true, fair, and
highly pertinent.  Sometimes, one must call a spade a spade, and draw a
line.  If I am mistaken, please say so and point out how, rather than
attacking me with straw man arguments.

> -- 
> John Wiegley                  GPG fingerprint = 4710 CF98 AF9B 327B B80F
> http://newartisans.com                          60E1 46C4 BD1A 7AC1 4BA2

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).