| [Rant] osopinion: Close That Open Hardware! | ANN.lu |
| Posted on 12-Jun-2002 00:21 GMT by sutro | 169 comments
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A rather unispired article at best. Read
here for more.
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| osopinion: Close That Open Hardware! : Comment 144 of 169 | ANN.lu |
| Posted by Janne Sirén on 15-Jun-2002 15:36 GMT | In reply to Comment 119 (Adam Kowalczyk):
>Oh come on now, I have a hard time believing the petition was starting in good
>faith.
Why is that? Do you know the person that started it? Do you have some inside knowledge that I do not? All I see is bias on your part. I'm not saying you are biased, I'm just saying it seems so. Please provide proof of otherwise.
>If people want an Amiga, buy an Amiga. It's truly that simple.
So it seems. However, just like with Apple clones or whatever, people are still entitled to hold another opinion. Mind you, I think Apple chose pretty wisely (for themselves) on that, but then Apple is different from Amiga Inc. in the fact that Apple themselves host a computer line AND have a larger, more established user base (a point the petition makes as well, I believe).
>I'd like to call some of you the worthless bunch of copyright infringing
>pirates that some are.
That I object to immensely. Just because one talks on behalf of, or agrees with a scheme that in someone's opinion lessens an anti-piracy scheme that does not make them pirates. I hate the idea of error-protected CD's as they don't play on some DVD players even if the player and the CD are fully legal, purchased copies (just spoke with a friend who was this unlucky), yet all my CDs are legal and I don't own any MP3's (apart from a few free ones).
Yet I still do agree with some arguments why such a protection is necessary, and I do respect people expressing their opinion and basing it on sound argumentation. I, however, personally do disagree based on my own arguments. I believe philosophers like Wittgenstein called that the concept of personal moral in the absence of absolute truth. My personal moral can tell me I'm more right than someone else, yet I must admit there is no absolute truth.
Also, this petition isn't just about copy-protection. Actually, I'm pretty sure (even though I hope it won't happen) someone will break the AmigaOS 4.x protection anyway. The scheme will probably stop some casual piracy (like the Microsoft scheme), and I think that is very good indeed. But whether or not it hurts more than it benefits is open to discussion. Nobody knows for sure.
BUT, and this is why I _really_ respect the petition, the big but is that the protection also introduces an added obstacle to the options in hardware for the user-base. Whether or not you believe this is a large-enough obstacle to merit suggesting change of plans to Amiga Inc. is also your cue to sign or not to sign the petition. Signing, creating or supoorting such a petition does not make someone a pirate. And, again, this isn't just about a copy-protection scheme.
>In short, allowing the OS to run on any unlicensed POP board does not make any
>sense for Amiga Inc.
That is your opinion and I respect it. That may also be Amiga Inc.'s opinion and I respect it as well. But I also respect other people's right to disagree and make their beliefs known to Amiga Inc. and the rest of the world.
>As far as principles go....the largest principle to speak of is that companies
>are in this to make money.
Certainly. And if you do read the petition, you will see that the undersigned believe it will benefit Amiga Inc.'s sales and thus make them more money. Since no-one has any facts on either way (just beliefs), we don't know whether or not they are indeed right. This belief, in this case, of course goes hand in hand with the argument that larger hardware-base results in a larger user-base.
Again, as was pointed out by people supporting the petition, there are other ways to prevent piracy than OEM installation. Even if they aren't as effective, they might be enough to close the gap between illegal and legal copies and still result in a larger user-base. Again, that is the opinion part and you are welcome to agree or disagree. Nobody knows how it would turn out.
>Any company that makes an unlicensed board has not taken any risk to deserve
>any reward. Period.
I can respect your opinion on that, sure. Not that capitalism really is that simple or pure these days (if it ever was), but sure. The other opinion is that the Amiga community (and via it the market) would benefit so much from the way the petition undersigned believe that giving a little extra to unlicensed manufacturers who don't deserve "any reward" is worth it.
Someone might even look at it like this: the unlicensed manufacturers deserve just as much as anyone else, since they took the risk to develop an interesting hardware platform that is succesful even in markets they are not interested in.
>Do you people not see how bad it is to not support the companies supporting
>Amiga's direction?
I believe it is far more damaging to blindly support anything. No matter how beautiful capitalism is (and I do practice it, have lived in a society practicing it all my life and believe in it very much myself, thank you), I hope people's independece of thought and freedom to express it will go even further than that. Those I value even more dearly.
>The three companies with the biggest interest in the Amiga surviving as a
>platform are Amiga Inc, Eyetech, and Hyperion.
That really doesn't mean they always make the right decisions, though. Nobody does all the time, even if they have a huge incentive to do so. Remember how many times Amiga Inc. has changed plans due to feedback so far? Like the time when they moved away from the d'Amiga-only plan to software SDK kits. They merit the change to community feedback. Imagine if everyone would've just kept their mouths shut then? Feedback is very important for any company.
Again, let me remind you and other readers that I am supporting here the right for this petition to exist. Not necessarily agreeing with it. I haven't signed it. What I do agree with is that the petition does express a legitimate opinion and that people have every right to agree or disagree with it. The thing I object to is that many still feel it was written in bad-faith, or it is FUD. No proof of that has been proposed or provided.
>Just don't slag me for not seeing that the "issue is in far larger". I DO SEE
>IT as a larger issue, I just see it more clearly than you!
Please do not presume to know what I see, know or do. I don't do so to you either. All I said, and meant, was that the issue is far larger than just some people wanting to support Pegasos. |
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