[free-sklyarov] Re: Continuing the fight

[Richard Stallman]

    Hi:  Without intentionally taking your words out of context, I think a 
    reminder that Adobe, among others is continuing without hesitation to 
    position Open Source,

I have no great love for "open source".  "Open source" is the slogan
of a movement that was founded in 1998 to reject the idealism of the
free software movement which I support.

In the open source movement, they don't say that it is *wrong* to stop
users from sharing, they only say they find it inconvenient.  By
putting their "open source" label on our work, they can talk about our
software while discouraging awareness of our political philosophy.
You've probably seen articles that identify me as working on "open
source"; such statements are examples of that confusion.  See
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html for more
explanation of the difference between the two movements.

This correction is particularly relevant to your message, because the
same idealism that underlies the free software movement leads me to
oppose *on moral grounds* the threat that you fear.

If you think of the freedom to share and change software as an ethical
imperative, please join me in saying "free software", and keep the
awareness of our idealism alive.

    Nope, they envision a world controlled through indescriminate use of .pdf 
    files, with "readers", rather than computers.

You're more or less right about what Adobe and the publishers want,
but PDF files are not the instrument of this control.  PDF format is
documented and it is supported by various free software packages.
It is the encrypted and restricted e-book format that is the way they
plan to impose restrictions on the public.

I've been condemning restricted e-books ever since 1997, when I
published "The Right to Read".  So I'm already doing my best to warn
about and oppose this danger.

With enough of us working together, maybe we can stop it.