Re: MAINTAINERS file

["Robert J. Chassell" <bob@rattlesnake.com>]

   ... I specifically said "selecting among the free alternatives" ...

In English, the word `free' has two meanings, `no charge' or `gratis'
and `freedom' or `libre'.  Thus there is a `free market' meaning
people may enter legally, but there may be a charge for products, and
`free beer' meaning gratis beer.  (Beer sold in a free market would be
`free market beer'.)

Some software is gratis but is restricted.  In addition, there is a
methodology, called `open software development', which confuses
matters.

The GNU Project is concerned with freedom, which is to say, freedom,
free markets, and the free press.  It is not concerned with cost.

As it happens, software is a high initial, low incremental cost
product, like law, armies, or reading: an initial program costs a fair
amount since it must be written, but a copied program costs little.
So the technology is one in which in a competitive market, a `free
market', the price of software drops.  Indeed, the price when
unrestricted, for software for which you have freedom is often
considered gratis by the end user.

That is why the opponents of a market with freedom, the opponents of
`free markets', seek governmental enforcements of restrictions on
sales.  They are against the freedom of others to pay the price that
competition would ensure.  Moreover, they like to call those
restrictions `property', as if the restrictions applied to a ship
rather than to software.

--
    Robert J. Chassell                          GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
    bob@rattlesnake.com                         bob@gnu.org
    http://www.rattlesnake.com                  http://www.teak.cc