GNU discussion

[David Schlesinger]

>If I am free to beat someone up that does not mean the sum total of  
>freedom for society is increased.

Sorry, pointlessness alert. There's _never_ a "freedom" to beat someone up, and--outside of the very limited contexts of, e.g., law enforcement or military activities--no one can grant one, so let's put this straw man to rest right away. Beating someone up is assault and battery, which are either misdemeanors or felonies, depending on the degree of severity, and you're never "free" to do either one.

Granting the freedom to extend a piece of code in whatever ways one's ingenuity allows, and do what one likes with those changes, doesn't take anything away from the original situation. If Apple takes BSD code and makes it do interesting things it couldn't before, you no worse off than you were before they did so, whether or not they share the source code for those changes with you.

Who do you imagine is getting "beaten up"? How are you "less free" as a result? If Apple's changes--and unwillingness to share--offend you, don't buy anything from 'em. If others don't mind, do you feel that you "know better" and should be able to restrict _their_ freedom to buy Apple's products...?

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