Closed-source considered harmful (was: JavaScript considered harmful)

[Karl M. Syring]

"Oleg Broytmann" <phd at phd.pp.ru> schrieb
> Resume:
>
> 1. Users must be teached to understand what is going on behind the
> (browser) scene, and how (and why) to configure their software.

That's beyond reach for many people.

>
> 2. But not all software is allowed to be configured. Hence users must be
> teached to prefer Free Software.

That's beyond reach for many people.

>
> 3. That Bad Company must be stopped. Modern software is too powerful to
> allow one company to rule the world via its software. And any company that
> will exercise its power upon people must be stopped. Again, Free Software
> is our way to resist and survive.

Once upon a time, there was a company that controlled the hardware and the
software market. Although some people say that it induced a statsi of 20
years, it was finally toppled.
Of course, programmers had a much higher social status in that dark times.

>
> 4. That Bad Company (as well as many others) is trying to develop dumb
> users - lamers that instead of understanding what is in their tools (I
mean
> any tool, not only computer, and I include computer in the list) just
> ignorantly press buttons. That's another reason to stop them. Users must
> understand their tools, because modern tools are too powerful, and
pressing
> incorrect button these days may easiliy lead to people death, or huge
money
> lost, and all that.

Many people are not interested. A friend of mine once commented on such a
proposal "I have no interest to fill my head with lots of trivial stuff".

Karl M. Syring