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It's good to live strictly by a philosophy, and I admire anyone who does this. I can't say I agree with Stallman's philosophy, because it places too high of an importance on communist principles which are inherently flawed and unjust.

There is nothing evil about closed-source software or proprietary licenses. Yes, it can be abused by greedy people, as can pretty much anything including water. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that all software must be open source as a step in humanity reaching its ultimate goal of perfection.



I think not all software should be open source. At the same time not all software should be proprietary.

And both should be able to compete for market share one against the other.


I'm not a communist for various reasons but I'm curious what makes you describe it as unjust. Could you elaborate?


My reasons are whatever the Catholic Church's reasons are.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a little more to say about it[1]:

> (2425) The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with "communism" or "socialism." She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of "capitalism," individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor. Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for "there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market." Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended.

[1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2...

(This book, online free at that link, is an immensely helpful resource on a huge variety of topics.)

And here's the Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on Communism: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04179a.htm


thanks for the detailed response!


My pleasure, I always enjoy sharing what I firmly to be the truth. I guess that's a pretty common attitude here on HN, but I seem to be the only one who believes that truth is found in the Catholic Church.


I'm sure it can be a kind of lonely around here for Catholics. For what it's worth, while I'm no longer conventionally religious, and while even in my religious days the Catholics were considered to barely qualify for heaven (Evangelicals being Evangelicals), I've come to have a somewhat more nuanced perspective on 'you guys'.

And I definitely think having views like yours over here is a benefit to the 'community'.




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