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On 19 May 2014 23:59, Simon Waters <simon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On 18/05/14 21:24, Philip Hudson wrote: >> >> If you don't want someone using the courts >> to force you to change the software they use, don't deny them the four >> freedoms. > > Lets be clear, if Google source code was free software (and a lot of > what it runs on is free software), they still provide a service you > can't afford to provide, ... if you seek exactly to mimic their business model ... > and have first mover advantage. So that is > nonsense. You have a point, but that's not really what I'm talking about. I'm not asking to be able to replace or compete with them. > Even if you could contribute code back to Google which results in a > better search service than they have That *is* what I'm exploring. I haven't thought it through. > (and I suspect few folk could, > otherwise why don't they go run a search engine and make billions?), The aforemenioned first mover advantage and other variations on the theme of incumbency. > I > suspect it will still index information people don't like, and think is > irrelevant to the term they entered. You're probably right about that, but I don't see that as strong support for denying the user's freedom; looks like a wash to me. I should add that we're getting into territory that may be of more concern to others than to me -- in other words, I'm not too bothered whether Google can be moved an inch or two towards respecting freedom. I long ago decided that Google was unsuitable for search. I still use other Google services, but always with an eye to migrating away at the first practical opportunity. -- Phil Hudson http://hudson-it.no-ip.biz @UWascalWabbit PGP/GnuPG ID: 0x887DCA63 -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq