Norbert Bollow writes: > Russell Nelson <nelson@crynwr.com> wrote: > > > Businesses, to be as successful as they can, must not > > adopt any morality. > > What exactly do you mean with this? By this I mean that anything which interferes with being of service to customers (e.g. not serving those damned niggers, as a racist might say it) is counter to the interests of the business. Why, then, you might ask, were whites and blacks served separately in the US through most of the previous century? Because even though a majority preferred to discriminate, business values (call it morality if you want) dictate non-discrimination. A set of businesses could try to form a cartel to discriminate, but cartels always break down. Sometimes it takes decades and decades, but even the deBeers diamond cartel is breaking down. No, in order to successfully discriminate, the majority had to pass a law (which majorities do very well) mandating discrimination. And hence, the Jim Crow laws and then the whole separate-but-equal(-my-foot!) nonsense. So, I'm not sure that morality is the right word. I hope I have made myself clear regardless. A free software business is going to act as if its highest value was the freedom of its software (otherwise it falls out of the category of FSB), BUT it can't try to promulgate that belief unless its customers want it to. It's all very well and good for the FSF to say that the freedom to share and modify is an ethical requirement. The FSF can afford to be a leader. A FSB must be a follower, and do sell what its customers want to buy. I'm makin' this up as I go along, so if I'm full of crap, please tell me so. I have no references to fall back on, no books by famous authors who are smarter than I. I'm just talking about what I know, and I'm just as eager as the next guy to be corrected if I'm wrong. -- -russ nelson http://russnelson.com | Crypto without a threat Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | model is like cookies 521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | without milk. Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX |