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+<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman.
+
+Free Software Foundation
+
+51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
+
+Boston, MA 02110-1335
+Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted
+worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is
+preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations
+of this book from the original English into another language provided
+the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and
+the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all
+copies.
+
+ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9
+Cover design by Rob Myers.
+
+Cover photograph by Peter Hinely.
+ -->
+
+
+ <a name="Avoiding-Ruinous-Compromises">
+ </a>
+ <h1 class="chapter">
+  41. Avoiding Ruinous Compromises
+ </h1>
+ <a name="index-GNU-_0028see-also-both-software-and-GNU_0029-9">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-FSF_002c-how-you-can-help-4">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-GNU_002c-how-you-can-help">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-donate-2">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-compromises_002c-avoiding-ruinous">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  The free software movement aims for a social change: to make
+all software free so that all software users are free and can be part
+of a community of cooperation. Every nonfree program gives its
+developer unjust power over the users. Our goal is to put an end to
+that injustice.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  The road to freedom is a long road. It will take many steps and many
+years to reach a world in which it is normal for software users to
+have freedom. Some of these steps are hard, and require sacrifice.
+Some of them become easier if we make compromises with people that
+have different goals.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-GPL_002c-patent_002dprovisions-compromise">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-compromises_002c-GPL-patent-provisions">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  Thus, the Free Software Foundation makes compromises—even major ones. For instance, we made
+compromises in the patent provisions of version 3 of the GNU General
+Public License (GNU GPL) so that major companies would contribute
+to and distribute GPLv3-covered software and thus bring some patents
+under the effect of these provisions.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-LGPL_002c-as-compromise">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-compromises_002c-LGPL-and">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-libraries-_0028comp_002e_0029_002c-LGPL-and-3">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  The Lesser GPL’s purpose is a compromise: we use it on certain chosen
+free libraries to permit their use in nonfree programs because we
+think that legally prohibiting this would only drive developers to
+proprietary libraries instead. We accept and install code in
+  <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-programs-_0028see-also-software_0029-2">
+  </a>
+  GNU
+programs to make them work together with common nonfree programs, and
+we document and publicize this in ways that encourage users of the
+latter to install the former, but not vice versa. We support specific
+campaigns we agree with, even when we don’t fully agree with the
+groups behind them.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  But we reject certain compromises even though many others in our
+community are willing to make them. For instance,
+we endorse only the GNU/Linux distributions that have policies not to
+include nonfree software or lead users to install it. To endorse
+nonfree distributions would be a ruinous compromise.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  Compromises are ruinous if they would work against our aims in the
+long term. That can occur either at the level of ideas or at the
+level of actions.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-citizen-values_002c-consumer-values-v_002e">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  At the level of ideas, ruinous compromises are those that reinforce
+the premises we seek to change. Our goal is a world in which software
+users are free, but as yet most computer users do not even recognize
+freedom as an issue. They have taken up “consumer” values, which
+means they judge any program only on practical characteristics such as
+price and convenience.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-Carnegie_002c-Dale">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  Dale Carnegie’s classic self-help book,
+  <cite>
+   How to Win Friends and
+Influence People,
+  </cite>
+  advises that the most effective way to
+persuade someone to do something is to present arguments that appeal
+to his values. There are ways we can appeal to the consumer values
+typical in our society. For instance, free software obtained gratis
+can save the user money. Many free programs are convenient and
+reliable, too. Citing those practical benefits has succeeded in
+persuading many users to adopt various free programs, some of which
+are now quite successful.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-_0060_0060open-source_002c_0027_0027-consumer-values-and">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  If getting more people to use some free programs is as far as you
+aim to go, you might decide to keep quiet about the concept of
+freedom, and focus only on the practical advantages that make sense
+in terms of consumer values. That’s what the term “open
+source” and its associated rhetoric do.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  That approach can get us only part way to the goal of freedom. People
+who use free software only because it is convenient will stick with it
+only as long as it is convenient. And they will see no reason not to
+use convenient proprietary programs along with it.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  The philosophy of open source presupposes and appeals to consumer
+values, and this affirms and reinforces them. That’s why we
+do not support open source.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-citizen-values_002c-convenience-v_002e-6">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  To establish a free community fully and lastingly, we need to do
+more than get people to use some free software. We need to spread the
+idea of judging software (and other things) on “citizen
+values,” based on whether it respects users’ freedom and
+community, not just in terms of convenience. Then people will not
+fall into the trap of a proprietary program baited by an attractive,
+convenient feature.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  To promote citizen values, we have to talk about them and show how
+they are the basis of our actions. We must reject the Dale Carnegie
+compromise that would influence their actions by endorsing their
+consumer values.
+  <a name="index-citizen-values_002c-consumer-values-v_002e-1">
+  </a>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  This is not to say we cannot cite practical advantage at all—we can
+and we do. It becomes a problem only when the practical advantage steals
+the scene and pushes freedom into the background. Therefore,
+when we cite the practical advantages of free software, we reiterate
+frequently that those are just
+  <em>
+   additional, secondary
+  </em>
+  reasons
+to prefer it.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  It’s not enough to make our words accord with our ideals; our
+actions have to accord with them too. So we must also avoid
+compromises that involve doing or legitimizing the things we aim to
+stamp out.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  For instance, experience shows that you can attract some users to
+GNU/Linux if you include some nonfree programs. This could mean a
+cute nonfree application that will catch some user’s eye, or a nonfree
+programming platform such as
+  <a name="index-Java-5">
+  </a>
+  Java (formerly) or the Flash runtime
+(still), or a nonfree device driver that enables support for certain
+hardware models.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  These compromises are tempting, but they undermine the goal. If you
+distribute nonfree software, or steer people towards it, you will find
+it hard to say, “Nonfree software is an injustice, a social problem,
+and we must put an end to it.” And even if you do continue to say
+those words, your actions will undermine them.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  The issue here is not whether people should be
+  <em>
+   able
+  </em>
+  or
+  <em>
+   allowed
+  </em>
+  to install nonfree software; a general-purpose system
+enables and allows users to do whatever they wish. The issue is
+whether we guide users towards nonfree software. What they do on
+their own is their responsibility; what we do for them, and what we
+direct them towards, is ours. We must not direct the users towards
+proprietary software as if it were a solution, because proprietary
+software is the problem.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-citizen-values_002c-distortion-of">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  A ruinous compromise is not just a bad influence on others. It can
+distort your own values, too, through cognitive dissonance. If you
+have certain values, but your actions imply other, conflicting values,
+you are likely to change your values or your actions so as to resolve
+the contradiction. Thus, projects that argue only from practical
+advantages, or direct people toward some nonfree software, nearly
+always shy away from even
+  <em>
+   suggesting
+  </em>
+  that nonfree software is
+unethical. For their participants, as well as for the public, they
+reinforce consumer values. We must reject these compromises if we
+wish to keep our values straight.
+ </p>
+ <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-uphold-citizen-values-publicly">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-beware-of-ruinous-compromises">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-FSF_002c-resources">
+ </a>
+ <a name="index-citizen-values_002c-publicly-upholding">
+ </a>
+ <p>
+  If you want to move to free software without compromising the goal of
+freedom, look at the FSF’s resources area. It lists hardware and
+machine configurations that work with free software, totally free
+GNU/Linux distros to install, and thousands of free software packages
+that work in a 100 percent free software environment. If you want to
+help the community stay on the road to freedom, one important way is
+to publicly uphold citizen values. When people are discussing what is
+good or bad, or what to do, cite the values of freedom and community
+and argue from them.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+  A road that lets you go faster is no improvement if it leads to the
+wrong place. Compromise is essential to achieve an ambitious goal,
+but beware of compromises that lead away from the goal.
+  <a name="index-compromises_002c-avoiding-ruinous-1">
+  </a>
+ </p>
+ <hr size="2"/>
+