Jynnan Tonnyx

I get really irritated when pundits (usually those trying to stamp out Free Software) describe the GNU GPL as “viral” or “infectious.” You have to make a conscious decision to link your code against GPL code! You can’t get “infected” by the GPL through any means other than your own choice. If you don’t want to release your code as Free Software, go find someone else’s libraries to link against. If you want to leverage the work of thousands of other developers from around the world, you play by their rules. Period. Most software companies require you to pay money to use their library, while GPL code developers require you to share and share alike. If you don’t like it, that’s fine - go create your own software ecosystem. But quit trying to convince the world that the GPL is bad just because you don’t like its terms.

Being pro-war doesn’t make you patriotic, any more than being anti-war makes you unpatriotic. A century ago, we used the terms “hawk” and “dove” to describe those positions precisely because it is beyond insulting to use how you feel about a particular military conflict to pigeonhole you as patriotic or not.

While I’m on the subject, being against the war in Iraq, in particular, is about supporting our troops, in the sense that you don’t want to see soldiers’ lives wasted on a war that was fought based on a lie, in violation of international law, for no discernable purpose, to no clear end, and the results of which are likely to be worse for the security of America and the world than the foregoing regime.

People, especially lawmakers, who think the flag is more important than the things it represents, like say, the Constitution.

Outside the door to my office, there’s a sign that reads:

The following items are PROHIBITED in the Closed Area: … Any Transmittable devices …

Having a device that could be transmitted (i.e. is transmittable) would be a neat trick!

People who think “Support Our Troops” means supporting the President no matter what he does to put our troops’ lives in danger.