Comment by Y-bar
6 months ago
I initially downvoted you, but on second thought I’m actually a bit sympathetic to your argument. We see a similar pattern happening elsewhere. E.g. US citizens being round up by paramilitary forces and shuttled without due process to places which can almost be described as concentration camps. All for the stated crime of maybe entering the country improperly. The argument goes that they do not deserve anything else because they are ”illegals”.
Doing one bad thing does not necessarily justify other bad things done to you.
That said, I don’t like this cheating-enabling software either and think the world would be a better place without it.
There's no inconsistency in holding both of these positions:
- the original software is clearly unethical, and I bear no goodwill toward its developer
- I support the consistent enforcement of the GPL
In a case like this, I think it's natural to state both points. If we only focus on the second, we may be contributing to a groundswell of support for the original project/developer. That's distasteful when we only want to narrowly support their right to have their licensing terms respected.