Written in a survey about attitudes towards free software.
it isn't immoral (moral = what's the current stance of mainstream society), but it is unethical.
In a society where people are used to being forbidden to give bread to a starving child, giving bread you'd otherwise throw away to that child instead could well be immoral.
So only software which allows you to act ethically is ethical - and that's free software. Even better is free software under strong copyleft licenses like the GPL, because that protects our right to act ethically for any future versions of the software.
No.
Legitimate doesn't mean "not contrary to existing law". Even in countries where the police is allowed to torture people, torture is illegitimate. At least that's my understanding. It means that something is wrong and should be forbidden.
I believe that people have the right to make unfree software (people also have the right to do tv-shows like "popstars"). I don't think anyone should use that software, though.
I can't force people to adher to my ethics without acting against my ethics myself. But I can try to convince tham that my understanding of ethics is right.
In many cases yes. But it depends on the case,
If I had to develop unfree software to earn enough to live a more or less comforting life, I'd likely choose to do so. That's why I fight now, so I can earn money ethically right later on. Or at least enable my children to do so (more detailed in german).
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