Re: Is there any way to have a string literal that is read "raw"

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: "Richard M. Stallman" <address@hidden>
> Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 12:54:12 -0400
> Cc: address@hidden
> 
> If a program would run only on Windows, we recommend that people not
> write that program at all.  If we were to distribute such a program,
> that would put us in a hypocritical position.  So we don't distribute
> such programs

Actually, we (i.e. the FSF and the GNU Project) do.  When I worked on
the GNU Software for MS-Windows and MS-DOS CDROM, you agreed to put 3
programs there that were written specifically for the users of
Windows: the installer of the software, a clone of the Unix `man'
command, and DJTAR, a utility that unpacks .tar.gz archives.

I think the principle was: if the Windows-specific program helps
people use GNU software, it is okay to write and distribute it.  For
the same reason, there are several Windows-specific programs that we
maintain and distribute with Emacs (addpm, cmdproxy, ddeclient, etc.).

So I think the ``Windows-specific equals BAD'' principle is too
stringent; one needs instead to argue that the specific program or
feature in question does not help the Free Software cause in any
significant way.  And whether this is true in the case in point is
very hard to establish unequivocally, and thus open to opinions.