Message-ID: <439B3E36.7090302@wolfmountaingroup.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2005 13:44:38 -0700
From: "Jeff V. Merkey" <jmerkey@wolfmountaingroup.com>
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To: Jan-Benedict Glaw <jbglaw@lug-owl.de>
Cc: Helge Hafting <helgehaf@aitel.hist.no>, rms@gnu.org,
       Coywolf Qi Hunt <coywolf@gmail.com>, luke-jr@utopios.org,
       linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: GNU/Linux in a binary world... a doomsday scenario
References: <21d7e9970512051610n1244467am12adc8373c1a4473@mail.gmail.com> <20051206040820.GB26602@kroah.com> <2cd57c900512052358m5b631204i@mail.gmail.com> <200512061856.42493.luke-jr@utopios.org> <2cd57c900512061742s28f57b5eu@mail.gmail.com> <20051210051628.E9E08CF4156@tsurukikun.utopios.org> <439A7E8E.8010707@wolfmountaingroup.com> <20051210164320.GB15986@aitel.hist.no> <20051210190537.GI13985@lug-owl.de> <439B2215.6090408@wolfmountaingroup.com> <20051210191501.GJ13985@lug-owl.de>
In-Reply-To: <20051210191501.GJ13985@lug-owl.de>
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Jan-Benedict Glaw wrote:

>On Sat, 2005-12-10 11:44:37 -0700, Jeff V. Merkey <jmerkey@wolfmountaingroup.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Two responses from people who live in socialist countries.  Sure you 
>>agree, it's just status quo from your perspectives.
>>    
>>
>
>Jeff, I'm not sure if we both think about the same things when we talk
>about "socialist", but I guess you may want to have a look at
>Germany's history, as well as the whole newer history (like 50 years)
>of Old Europe...
>
>MfG, JBG
>
>  
>
I'm married to a German citizen and I visit Germany for 3-4 week stints 
once a year.  Last year I went to Aachen and Amsterdam on vacation.  
Every computer store I visited sold pirated copies of Windows XP and 
Microsoft Office and in Amsterdam people were selling copies on the 
street corners in the Artis District.

The entire culture has absolutely no concept of IP rights and I was 
amazed at how open folks are there about piracy.  If someone did that in 
the US, they'd
be in jail.   I have lived in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Crete, and 
I spent about 2 years in the UK when I was a younger man, and I have a 
really
good handle on the culture over there.  Even the republic countries 
which have democratic governments are very much socialist in terms of the
lifestyle and the governments, and the way people live, so it's no 
surprise the whole concept of free software and the GPL are so natural 
to the
culture of Europe in general.

I have been very dismayed at how FOSS has been used as a vehicle to 
promote anti-american attitudes into our own culture.  It's sad.  I have 
lived in
all these places and the only place where people have guaranteed rights 
as individuals and true freedom is America.  I was in Germany in the late
1970's and earlt 1980's when the Bater-Meinhoffs were killing Americans 
in the streets and the Grune-Gehfahr (Green Party) was having 
demonstrations burning effigies of Uncle Sam in the Hauptewache District 
in Frankfurt.    This younger generation has no concept of what they are 
supporting or how bad things can get.  It is the doom of men that they 
forget.

At any rate, I do understand, and I have a son-in-law in Germany and 
grandchildren who speak German and not English (I know what Oh-pa means
and I can always tell them "Ich Habe Dich Leib"), so I do agree the 
bonds between countries are becoming more and more blurred.  I remember an
older German man in Aachen in a Luftwaffe Uniform watching me with my 
grandson in Starbucks try to talk to each other and him smiling at the
thought an American man has grandkids who are totally immersed in the 
German culture.  At any rate, Stallman needs to in the next GPL incorporate
capitalist provisions which will allow FOSS to become a self sustaining 
model.   The US markets are abandoning Linux as a commerical offering
and Windows is continuing to get stronger and stronger.  It's tough to 
embrace technology when people cannot see a future in it.  Hardware
purchases aside.

Jeff


Jeff
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