Re: Linking to non-free websites from gnome.org

[Richard Stallman <rms gnu org>]

[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

  > I think that a banner ad for Builder endorses Builder.  (That's fine.)
  > > It does not really endorse Indiegogo, but it does urge people to go to
  > > the Indiegogo site and donate.
  > >

  > I would still have to say that the banner *advertises* Builder (and of
  > course, endorses it too) but that it also inadvertently *endorses* the use
  > of indiGoGo, in the process.

I think we don't need to argue about this subtle shade of meaning.

The substantial point is that this issue is NOT about endorsement in
general.  It's about a very specific kind of case: a recommendation
that people go to a certain web site and perform a certain kind of
operation there.

Because the issue is so specific, it is ethically simple -- it's wrong
to recommend the operation if the operation requires running nonfree
software (including JS code).

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org  www.gnu.org
Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
  Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call.