Re: (Really) Free Software future

[Jean Louis <bugs@gnu.support>]

* Svante Signell <svante.signell@gmail.com> [2019-10-16 02:23]:
> On Mon, 2019-10-14 at 22:41 -0400, Richard Stallman wrote:
> > 
> > If systemD is be hard to replace, that is a kind of lock-in.  But it
> > isn't _vendor_ lock-in.  systemD, like most free software packages,
> > is not tied to any particular vendor.  Indeed, the usual concept of
> > vendor for free software is not applicable to free software at all.
> 
> Sorry Richard, but it is really a vendor lock-in. As you know there is
> only one _upstream_ of systemd and that upstream is a company. Systemd
> software is developed by that company, and as you also know is that
> contributions, patches and bug reports coming from outside that company
> are frown upon. People reporting issues are even met with hostility.

systemd binaries are dependent on systemd and replaces programs that
did not have such dependencies. It is creating similar situation as
vendor lock-in is creating.

Some references:

- https://suckless.org/sucks/systemd/

- http://judecnelson.blogspot.com/2014/09/systemd-biggest-fallacies.html

- https://blog.darknedgy.net/technology/2015/10/11/0/

- https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2016/05/18/systemd-it-keeps-getting-worse/
  where it says: "One of systemd’s main goals is to unify basic Linux
  configurations and service behaviors across all distributions."

There is my personal protest against the systemd's LGPL license. It is
service manager and not a special library that shall sacrifice freedom
in special cases.

Issue with the LGPL license is that me personally, for GNU system, I
would prefer GPL only license and not LGPL allowing proprietary
software into free software system distributions.

systemd does create control of few developers of systemd and vendors
of various GNU/Linux operating systems over its users.

systemd does create situation as "programmers controlling computing"
and not "users having freedom in their own computer".

That GNOME requires systemd is sad situation, it shall be independnet
of service manager.

Jean