GNU is a sponging communist

IT IS FOR THE FIRST TIME I decided to comment on some article. The reason is the article In praise of Richard Stallman. I have already heard from many people that American universities are full of people propagating communistic ideology. This is because there is highly developed capitalism in the States (and Western Europe). I lived and studied in the former Czechoslovakia under the communist totality. I am not sure if I am able shortly describe why Internet, PC, freedom of words, etc. is definitely NOT the result of Stallman's activity. It is a result of capitalism, competition and free market. If there is no capitalism, Linus could not afford to buy cheap 386 to play with UN*X kernels. It was prohibited to connect modem to telephone line (because modem communications cannot be understand by listening ears). Every copier machine was registered and no private person could own one. Why such strong restrictions? Because communism cannot compete in economy power, so the totality and repression is the only way to keep in alive (at last for a while).

GNU is communism. Because communism is still unacceptable for some people on the West, GNU proponents brought the slogan "free speech, not free beer". Even Linus himself compared Bill Gates (who sells Microsoft software - how inhuman!) to Newton (who published his physics research for free). But what is "speech" and what is "beer"? How to distinguish them? "Speech" cannot be sold, so it is for free. Basic research in physics is definitely "speech". Research paper about formal language specification is also "speech". Image of remote quasar from HST is also "speech". But database server, which process corporate data? Operating system, which runs business applications of all modern companies? Yes, there is also basic research in computer science - but GNU is all about implementation. More often free re-implementation of technology already developed by commercial companies. Is this "speech"? This is "beer".

How can GNU survive if it is so bad? Because GNU is sponger. It exists only thank to very rich economies of Western worlds. Universities or other research agencies often pay GNU proponents. I always thought the role of universities is to educate people and to do basic research, which can be possibly applied by commercial companies to earn money and to pay taxes, which feed universities and state research agencies. Or do you think HST or Mars probes can be launched for free?

Pavel Cagas

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