Re: bug#22145: 25.0.50; tramp and auto-revert tests hang on OS X

[John Wiegley]

>>>>> Richard Stallman <address@hidden> writes:

> A nonfree program tramples the freedom of those who use it. If we were
> running MacOS on a computer, it would take away our freedom. Of course, we
> don't do that.

One thing we should clarify: Mac OS X is Darwin + some proprietary libraries.

Darwin is free/libre software, and all its source code is downloadable[1].
This is how the Nix project on Mac is able to be so self-contained.

The "OS X" part consists of some properties bits that are either difficult or
impossible to build without binaries from Apple. These are the bits that Nix
on OS X, for example, is trying hard to eliminate the need for. Who knows,
Apple may even release these bits at some point in the future.

So, let us not say that "MacOS tramples freedom" and should be eliminated.
Rather, the proprietary bits that run on top of Darwin, and the license used
by Apple for these bits, are what should be eliminated. And that's a much
smaller area of concern than the entirety of the Mac operating system.

Darwin is good; OS X restricts user freedom; and I think Emacs on Mac should
only be considered bad to the extent it depends on those restrictive parts.

Footnotes: 
[1]  http://www.opensource.apple.com/

-- 
John Wiegley                  GPG fingerprint = 4710 CF98 AF9B 327B B80F
http://newartisans.com                          60E1 46C4 BD1A 7AC1 4BA2