Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!bbn!gateway!nav.icst.nbs.GOV!rbj From: rbj@nav.icst.nbs.GOV (Root Boy Jim) Newsgroups: comp.emacs Subject: Gnu for profit? Message-ID: <8812081600.AA18091@nav.icst.nbs.gov> Date: 8 Dec 88 16:00:23 GMT Sender: news@bbn.COM Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology Lines: 36 ? From: David Lawrence? A recent posting advertised the distribution of GNU software by a ? company named ISPI, located in New York. ? Although this is allowed for by the GNU General Public License, it seems ? inappropriate to me that a for-profit organization would avail itself ? of a "free good" (the net) to advertise their services. ? I feel that this is contrary to the spirit of GNU, and it is most certainly ? contrary to the raison d'etre of this particular newsgroup. If you want ? to provide a service and charge for it, it is only fair that you assume ? all of the costs associated with providing that service, INCLUDING ? publicity. ? This newsgroup exists for the FREE interchange of ideas, suggestions and ? pleas for help, in the GNU philosophy. People should not have to wade ? through advertisements in order to solve their problems. Please, let's keep ? advertisements in the paid media, and keep this group in the spirit of GNU. Yeah, and lets get those crass money-grubbing announcements from the Free Software Foundation out of here too :-) Seriously, how did their prices compare with FSF? If I had two tape drives on one system I'd probably go into the cloning business myself. There is a fine line here. If their prices are "reasonable" (a la FSF), then by "advertising" here, they keep their (and our) cost down. If their prices are "commercial" (say, $1000/tape), then to hell with them, and they can advertise in a real magazine. ? Thanks (Root Boy) Jim Cottrell (301) 975-5688 or Crackers and Worms -- Breakfast of Champions!