Ronald Cole writes: > And then there's this tidbit from Stallman from the same faq: > > "The legal meaning of the GNU copyleft is less important than the > spirit, which is that Emacs is a free software project and that work > pertaining to Emacs should also be free software. "Free" means that > all users have the freedom to study, share, change and improve Emacs. > To make sure everyone has this freedom, pass along source code when you > distribute any version of Emacs or a related program, and give the > recipients the same freedom that you enjoyed." > > Here Stallman seems to freely admits that the GNU system is free, not > because of any legal requirements in the GPL, but because the author > (the FSF) practices the Golden Rule. And he seems to command that > everyone else who receives the GNU system practice it, too. Look, Stallman is not GOD, and does not pass commandment over mortals. He is a man with vision and ethics, but I doubt that he aims to force everybody to behave like him, unwilling how he might be. The software he manages is handed out under the GPL, and this means that you can only use or distribute it if you comply to the licence conditions. As you have not signed a contract, you can feel free to disagree with the licence conditions and not feel bound by it. In which case the copyright holder will not relax his rights to the software in a way making you legally use it. You adhere to the letter of the GPL, you can use the software, according to the licence. Simple as that. Nobody "commands" you to practice some ominous Golden Rule, or obey a secret hidden code, or burn Microsoft Office packages at new moon. Of course, GNU people will be more than glad if you do those things (they help wth strange programs, see man pom for an example), but they are not mandatory. -- David Kastrup Phone: +49-234-700-5570 Email: dak@neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de Fax: +49-234-709-4209 Institut f�r Neuroinformatik, Universit�tsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany