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<title>Beware of Contradictory “Support”
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>Beware of Contradictory “Support”</h2>
<p>by <strong>Richard Stallman</strong></p>
<p>There are organizations that proclaim support for free software or
the GNU Project, and teach classes in use of nonfree software.</p>
<p>It's possible that they do some <em>other</em> things that really
support free software, but those classes certainly don't. On the
contrary, they work directly against the free software movement by
promoting the use of the nonfree software. That increases the
magnitude of the practical problem it is our mission to correct.</p>
<p>Even worse, that grants nonfree software legitimacy. The basic
point of the free software movement is that nonfree software is <a
href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">unjust</a>
and should not exist. That's why we need a movement to <em>replace
and eliminate</em> it. Teaching how to use it asserts that it isn't
a problem; that opposes the free software movement at the deepest
level.</p>
<p>Of course, people have the right to state that view, but they
shouldn't pretend that it constitutes support for our cause.</p>
<p>Even more outrageously, some of those organizations claim that
their courses in using nonfree software are connected with or even
certified by the GNU Project or the Free Software Foundation.
Needless to say, we would never certify such a course, nor recommend
it, nor have anything to do with it, nor even talk about it except
with condemnation.</p>
<p>Teaching use of nonfree programs works against free software;
teaching it in association with the name GNU or the term “free
software” causes confusion about what we stand for.</p>
<p>If you encounter such an organization, please explain these points
to the people who work on it: that such courses go directly against
the principles of the free software movement. Explain to them why, if
they want to help the free software cause, they need to teach people to
choose free software, not legitimize nonfree software.</p>
<p>If they ask you to participate in those courses, as a student or
teacher, that gives you an opportunity
to <a href="/philosophy/saying-no-even-once.html"> say no</a> for a
change.</p>
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<p>Copyright © 2016, 2020 Richard Stallman</p>
<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
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<p class="unprintable">Updated:
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$Date: 2020/12/19 16:11:48 $
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