Re: [Reuben Thomas] browse-url.el Opera support

[David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org>]

Reuben Thomas <rrt@sc3d.org> writes:

> On Fri, 16 Jan 2004, Richard Stallman wrote:
> 
> > The free software movement is based on the recognition that
> > non-free software is antisocial and unethical.  It is a social
> > problem, and our work is to solve that problem.  Success for us
> > does not mean writing popular free programs, it means ending the
> > antisocial practice of distributing non-free software.
> 
> The main means you've chosen to end the practice of distributing
> non-free software is to distribute free alternatives, so you're not
> going to be successful if your programs aren't popular.

If my goal is free speech, then this goal is achieved when everybody
that wants to can speak up.  Even if the percentage of those that
actually want to make use of that freedom are few.

> I have no such principle. If I had to state anything so dangerous as
> an absolute principle, it would be much closer to your position than
> to the one you infer. I do believe in proportionality, though: this
> particular case (a very small feature) should, in my view be decided
> pretty much purely on technical grounds.

On technical grounds, there is no necessity for it.  There are
already hooks that make it reasonably easy to get the behavior you
want.

So it is easy enough for the Opera user community to discuss and
propose and implement and distribute what they consider best for
using in connection with Emacs.  They just can't rely on the GNU
project to maintain and distribute and recommend such stuff.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum