[ale] Letter to my congressman

[runman at speedfactory.net]

You might want to say *how* SCO is a threat instead of just saying "SCO
is a threat".

Greg

On 1/23/2004, "Charles Shapiro" <cshapiro at nubridges.com> wrote:

>I intend to print  this out, put it into an envelope, and mail it to my
>congressman this weekend.
>
>**
>
>You may have received a letter from Daryl Mcbride, president of
>the Santa Cruz Organization (SCO), calling Linux a danger to American
>security and a threat to the American economy.
>
>I am an American citizen and a professional computer programmer who
>works full-time with Linux and Open Source software. Daryl Mcbride's
>litigation and lobbying efforts pose a direct threat to my livelihood
>and to that of hundreds of thousands of other Americans.  They are also
>deeply insulting to those involved in Open Source.
>
>His allegations that Linux and Open Source software are threats to
>America are demonstrably false. To take just one example,
>he claims that open source software is a 'threat to the US information
>technology industry'. Almost all the computer programmers in the United
>States write software for companies which do not directly sell it; I am
>no exception to this rule.  For these programmers,  Linux and Open
>Source software are essential tools and substantial
>boosts to their productivity.  To deprive them of these tools, or even
>to interfere with their use, injures the vast
>majority of the voters in the IT industry while unjustly favoring a tiny
>minority who don't even reside in your state. It also injures those who
>use their programs, a group which includes nearly everyone who works
>with a computer.
>
>If you think of legislation in this matter, perhaps the words of some
>17th-century French merchants should be your guide. When asked by a
>minister of Finance what he could do for them they replied: Laissez-nous
>faire (Let Us Be).
>
>-- CHS
>
>
>
>
>
>
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