On Jan 4, 2008 11:41 PM, Paul de Weerd  wrote:

quoted text
> For some reason, earlier mail on the strawllman-thread did not make it

> to the list. I'm copying parts of some of these mails inline. Note

> that both mails were CC:'ed to misc@ (so they were intended to end up

> on the list. As such, i don't think using them inline here is a

> problem)

>

> > However, I expect you're exaggerating when you say that your situation

> > is that grave.  There are many jobs people can do in the Netherlands.

> > If you lost this particular job -- which could happen for many reasons

> > -- the result would most likely just be some discomfort.

>

> I've been working in IT for well over 10 years now. I can promise you

> that, had I denounced non-free software, I would not have been able to

> pay for my food or my rent/mortgage for the past 10 years.

>

> I very much enjoy working with free software. Some of that stuff is

> simply amazing. But it is not of this world to think that more than a

> handful of people can make their living without ever touching non-free

> software in this world. If you're waiting for this to happen : dont

> hold your breath.

>

> Yes, there are many jobs people can do in the Netherlands (and in

> other countries). My point is that most (if not all) IT-jobs require

> the employee to somehow interface with non-free software. In the

> general case, you can not simply refuse to work with non-free software

> and expect to keep your job.

>

> Paul 'WEiRD' de Weerd

In February 2004, Mr Stallman did a keynote at an event held in Paris

called "Solutions Linux" (or stg along theses lines) about free software.

When someone asked him how to make a living of IT without using or

promoting non-free software, his answer was that you don't have to

work in the IT field to contribute to free software, and he'd prefer see

a kernel contributor being a taxi driver than administrating Windows

workstations (It may not be the very same words, but the intent is the

same).
FOS projects being what they are, they do not require any kind of

qualification to participate, only the final product (code, doc) is taken

in account. So I could be a gardener and contribute to projects I

estimate worthy. From a very abstract point of view, that's coherent.
But contributing is not an abstract process: a contributor has to run

into a problem to solve it. Personnally, I never managed to solve a

problem I couldn't grasp. And as a gardener, I'm not sure software will

be my first source of problems. Another point is if contributions are

my only contact with software, the range of my perceptions will be

greatly narrowed. You can't expect creativity to come from this

overconstrained setup: solutions often come from the 10.30 coffee

break, when you discuss with your colleagues.
So, I'm the first one to say we should judge on the results not the look,

but I think it's way harder to write quality code when not in IT.
--

Vincent