Does GNU/Linux need to run Windows apps? This question resurfaced last week, when the media noticed that Google has been contributing heavily to the Wine project, which develops a compatibility layer on GNU/Linux for running Windows applications.
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16 years 8 weeks 3 days 37 min ago
Wine is Ethical
The Wine project is completely ethical. There is nothing wrong with supporting and encouraging free replacements of proprietary software platforms/SDKs/APIs. There is nothing wrong with sponsoring such initiatives. We should invest our resources into creating free replacements of any proprietary program so that users don't have to be seduced into subjugation.
People do not see the subjugation that occurs when they depend on proprietary software. If people want to use Wine to run proprietary software that is designed for a Windows platform, so be it; they are the ones choosing to trade their liberty for convenience. If they chose to invest in free programs, they would never be subject to anybody. We should do our best to understand subjugation so that we can communicate this threat to them.