CompuServe Messages

Mr. Oliver, You are certainly entitled to your opinions, just as Stallman is entitled to his. However, when you suggest that Stallman is a plagiarist you have left the realm of opinion and have approached dangerously close to what is known as libel. I would suggest you should choose your words more carefully, and discover the facts of the case, before you go to far. It might turn out that part of the proceeds from a court case against you could go to support the cause of GNU – wouldn't that be something? I can think offhand of 6 or 7 MAJOR contributions (not including EMACS) to the state of the art which are by Stallman. These are well documented, and known to many well informed individuals. The only thing I know about you is that you seem to have based your entire philosophy of life on one fictional novel. Whatever you think of Stallmans personal beliefs, the fact remains that he is a brilliant, original, and creative hacker, and many of the most advanced programs around, as well as a large number of commercial offerings owe a good deal to his *original* work in the field. Personally, I think ideas stand on their own merits, and if you feel you need to prop your ideas up by personal and un-informed attacks against someone who is not even here to defend himself – well, I think that speaks for itself. In deference to the other frequenters of this sig, I would suggest that if you have more to say to me on this subject, you should use Email. Of course, I won't be reading your letters… Sincerely Mr. Ballantyne