Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!darkstar.UCSC.EDU!nic.scruz.net!earth.armory.com!rstevew
From: rstevew@armory.com (Richard Steven Walz)
Subject: Re: Software Leasing
Organization: The Armory
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1995 15:48:57 GMT
Message-ID: <D3DqLM.C3s@armory.com>
References: <3000587549.2.p00078@psilink.com>
Sender: news@armory.com (Usenet News)
Nntp-Posting-Host: deepthought.armory.com
Lines: 75

In article <3000587549.2.p00078@psilink.com>,
Andrew Luck <p00078@psilink.com> wrote:
>Sorry , I just couldn't resist....
-------------------------------------
No, actually you're being a weasel and an ass, addressing a question which
you will not present fairly or in its entirely, but only from your
parochial viewpoint.
-Steve

>[ Deletia  to save lots of bandwidth]
>
>Well ....   Let's Break this sequence down to it's bare essentials ....
>
>1. If something is required , just take it.
>   We share stolen goods because we believe we have a right to do so.
---------------------------------------
No, we share information that we could not otherwise afford which therefore
would not diminish the revenue from said works. Eminent domain of the
people!
-Steve

>2. Morality is bent to the whims of the individual.
----------------------------------------
Morality isn't "bent". It only looks that way to simpletons who imagine
that morality is a group phenomenon, when in fact, it has ALWAYS been an
individual phenomenon!! Most advance in civilization has arisen from civil
disobediance, with or without choosing to be a sacrificial lamb to the
system one is fighting!
-Steve

>3. The definition of neccesity is in the eye of the acquirer.
>   Theft is a moral means of living.
----------------------------------------
Work is a moral means of living. If you can have a copy of a tool you could
not otherwise afford to keep you off the dole, then it is a moral choice to
copy that tool! Theft is depriving someone of something they would
otherwise possess through their efforts without due process. This doesn't
qualify as theft.
-Steve

>4. Aiding and abetting other's should be based on their definition of need.
---------------------------------------
Aiding others is based on one's own definition of their need. But don't be
surprised if they imitate something you do because they see it works and
they need it to survive, whether it be a better way to hunt a gazelle or
code. Sale is irrelevant if another can't afford it. Their copying of it is
irrelevant if you could not receive revenue from them anyway!
-Steve

>5. The ends justify the means.
-------------------------------------------
Yes, the genuine ends DO justify the genuine means. The problem with these
semantics in the past has been only that some people's assertions of the
nature of their ends have been erroneous or an outright lie. There are
plenty of processes currently in action in our culture which could be
questioned on the same basis of means and ends, except that no one chooses
to because it is the prevailing convenience!
-Steve

>6. Acts are sanctioned by the actor, and screw the culture that says
>   differently.
--------------------------------------------
In reality the only agency of action IS the actor. The culture is a
collective figment, the popular notion of a bunch of mere actors screwing
the culture about for their own avarice and advantage. Culture is most
often the excuse of the oppressor, not the voice of virtue. It is as flawed
or more flawed than any one of its composite actors!
-Steve

>In today's American Cowboy culture, I need:
--------------------------------------------
A lobotomy, actually. Your frontal lobes are rotting if you believe the
crap you're spewing and can't see past it.
-Steve Walz   rstevew@armory.com

