Re: Supporting non-free SQL clients in ob-sql (was: [PATCH] ob-sql: Add support for Athena)

[Richard Stallman]

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[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

  > > Would someone please tell me more concretely what kind of "support"
  > > this is?

  > You can find interactive support in `sql' library, functions such as:

  > M-x sql-oracle 

  > which supports proprietary Oracle Database:

This raises two questions.

1. For this purpose, what kind of thing is "the Oracle Database"?
a. A library to link with?
b. A program to run in a subprocess?
c. A server running SaaSS?

2. How does Emacs communicate with that thing?
a. By function calls within a process?
b. Via shared memory?
c. Via a pty or pipe?
d. Via sockets?

The answers are crucial for thinking about what our moral ideas and
policies say about this case.

  > (sql-ms &optional BUFFER)

  > Run osql by Microsoft as an inferior process.

This suggests an answer to the first question.
More precisely, it suggests that the answer is b
_at least some of the time_.

  > > Are they nonfree programs, or are they SaaSS?

  > They are proprietary programs that may be also SaaSS.

Does the Emacs support offer to talk with a remote web server?

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)