Forwarding mail from Vihan in verbatim..

Anurag

Subject: Important : RMS mistreated during ATI protest Date: Mon, 8 May 2006 12:43:16 +0530 From: "Vihan Pandey" vihanpandey@gmail.com Return-path: vihanpandey@gmail.com To: "Anurag Patel" anurag@gnu.org.in

Hi Anurag! Long time how have you been ? i wanted a favour. i wanted to send a mail on the ilug-bom mailing list but it got rejected because it was too big. It's an important mail if you could please send it across i would be very grateful.

Regards,

- vihan

The mail :

Hello everyone, i know its been a VERY long time since i last mailed, but here i am now - back again.

This news is little over a month old and there may be those of you who may already know. However for those who don't please read this link :

http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/rms-ati-protest.html

ATI has consistently disregarded making their drivers and other software Free Software. Releasing a GNU/Linux driver for some video cards that too under proprietary terms is NOT the solution. This incident clearly proves that if we don't start taking our freedom seriously, Huxley's "Brave New World" is right around the corner. It also shows that it takes courage to d= o the right thing, stand up for what you believe in fight injustice in every way possible. i know this sounds clich=E9 but let's face it the way things = are going - companies(especially hardware one's) are becoming more and more restrictive regarding their products, as technology becomes more complex it will become harder and harder for hackers to figure out.

There's no doubt that people will find walk around's or even break any restrictions imposed. But prevention IS better than cure, we have to take this issue at a social level and treat it seriously. The Free Software movement has been a beacon of inspiration in this light where other's have chosen to stay silent or less vocal. Nagrajuna's mail "OSS Philosophy Explained" makes absolute sense in this context. i saw the responses to it by the OSS community.

Russ Nelson wrote that "Richard appeals to intellectuals by advocating for the concept of freedom. Intellectuals constitute a minority, say 10% of the population. We appeal to the majority by advocating for the value of freedom. The other 90% of the population whom Richard cannot reach will be convinced by the experience of freedom rather than the concept of freedom."(see : http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/pipermail/linuxers/Week-of-Mon-20060424/025576.ht= ml). However understanding a concept is the 1st step actually realizing a truth. If you mearly "experience" without knowing or acknowledging you simply take things for granted and that is something what the majority of people actually do. The folly is when this happens, people don't care about that concept(in this case the concept being FREEDOM) and are happy in their "experience". However when the "experience" is lost or threatened by "Big Brother" they feel the pinch and thus it becomes important to educate and talk about it. Which is EXACTLY what the Free Software movement proactively does. Isn't it therefore prudent to start acknowledging the concept NOW rather than until its too late ?

Michael Tiemann very eloquently wrote "The OSI chose to create a tent larger than the free software tent. We accepted non-free licenses because we wanted to give voice to people writing software and sharing source code who did so for reasons other than moral

freedom. Is it wrong to accept works that strive for technical excellence independent of social agendas? As a scientist and an engineer (BS CSE, University of Pennsylvania 1986) I have to say no:the scientific method is, and must be independent from all moral frameworks.

Does this make science immoral or amoral? Certainly there are those who apply or ignore science in immoral ways. But science itself is concerned with evidence and falsification, not morals. Open Source allows for software to be independent from freedom, while at the

same time offering the kind of freedom that comes from independence" (see: http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/pipermail/linuxers/Week-of-Mon-20060424/025= 560.html ). True people do share code for reasons other moral ones, however the problem arises when society at large follows this trend then we tend to ignore the value of morals themselves - and the resulting society becomes a living embodiment of cayoss. i agree with the scientific method and approach of "evidence and

falsification" but scientific method is a function of scientific conduct and more importantly of scientific ethics. These "moral" grounds are VERY clearly defined for study, research, experiment and process. Therefore are morals not a part of science altogether and wouldn't

following them be consistent with scientific method ?

Don't get me wrong, i have a lot of respect for many people in the Open Source community i also acknowledge they have given us a lot of great software and licensed it GPL. They have even brought GNU/Linux to a number of places, however i do not agree with their philosophy that ignorin= g the value system of freedom and morals for the sake of "catering to the masses" or "increasing user base" is the way to go.

Going back to the original topic i think we ought send ATI a piece of our mind. i suggest each person send a mail to their Public Relations department. Its located here : http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/contact/index.html Goto the "Media Inquires" link.

A basic truth about life is that if you want the right to be free you have to be willing to pay the price for it - what ever costs. History has taught us that. History has also taught us what happens when we forget about freedom, morals, ethics and their value systems. WE are responsible for the society we live in, therefore we also have to acknowledge the consequences of our actions when we choose to ignore something. If we want to live in a society that is free we have to respect that ideal.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"

- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN(17th January, 1706 - 17th April, 1790)*

*Regards,

- vihan