I hope this question doesn't sound silly. I am a software engineer and am very interested in operating systems such as Linux that have much more free licenses. As a Catholic I have a few concerns though:

1. Linux has a command interface called bash. This stands for "Bourne Again Shell" (a shell is a command interface). This name is derived from the original Bourne Shell. The name "Bourne Again Shell" is obviously take from (born again) Christianity.

2. Two and presumably more prominent people involved with Linux have very unChristian views on sexuality. In fact one of the main people involved with the GNU Free Software Foundation supports contraception and abortion. His web site even advocates government support of contraception. He also wears fake halos, and has quips about his made-up church that relates to his free software.

I am very much in favor of Free Software and God has given me great talents as a software engineer. However, I am in a moral dilemna because significant portions of this software seem to come from an actively immoral person(s) who seems to have little or no respect for God and his Catholic Church.

Any guidance is appreciated.

Thank You, Greg McPherran

-- Greg McPherran (sw2@mediaone.net), August 16, 2001

Answers

Hello, Greg--
Very sharp of you, to question the (support--?) you ought to give devious entities like these. Or, is the ''command interface'' anything which profits from your participation? Could it be unrelated to you and others that are turned off; and could Linux have no other complaints except yours? Why is co-existing not an option; just excluding them as irrelevant?

We are, after all in a Web environment which distributes a diversity of evil matter. But we inhabit our own space, here in this forum, for instance. If we were to retreat and abandon our footprint here, what would remain to defy and counteract the uncensored smut?

I don't know if I'm imagining the right analogy, since I don't know much about Free Software. But maybe I've managed to give you food for thought? God bless you and guide your decisions, Greg.

-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), August 16, 2001.

Greg,

That's a dilemma that's much more pervasive than just Linux. How many products do you use every day that are produced by corporations or individuals that are as much or more objectionable than the Linux developers you are concerned about? Many Christians boycott places like Disney and Microsoft (your Linux alternative) for their open support of homosexuality. Others boycott TV programs or movie studios for producing anti-Christian shows. If you watch TBS or CNN, you're supporting Ted Turner who is one of the most anti-Christian people in the world. Would you watch a movie that involved someone like Alec Baldwin (openly hates Christians) or Martin Scorsese (who directed the Last Temptation of Christ)?

It all has merit, but it can be oh-so-difficult to keep up with and the product or service you turn to as an alternative may be no better, but you don't necessarily know about it.

I'm not sure I have answers for you Greg. I know I have deliberately avoided many of the products, movies, etc when I know my conscience leads me in that direction. I just have no confidence that I am able to be consistent.

As for Linux, I'm not so sure of the long term life span of open source code - but that's another topic for another forum :-)

-- David Bowerman (bowerman@blazenet.net), August 16, 2001.

Greg,

I'd take a different stance from Eugene on this. I'd look at the end you are trying to accomplish, if it's a good end such as the production of quality free software, it wouldn't worry me that some of the people involved were immoral in their personal life or attitudes. Jesus himself had sinners for disciples (as are we all). Who knows, your example of ethics might influence some fence-sitters who would otherwise be affected by your co-workers attitudes not to practice behaviors that are Hell-bound.

If on the other hand you were actively working to make software who's *intent for usage* was to corrupt religous morality/belief, I'd shy away from it, as you would be furthering an evil, rather than a good, end.

With "bash", I interpret it as an insider's joke rather than anything with serious malice behind it, regardless of what it's inventer thought.

Oops, with regard to supporting abortion on what I assume is the software maker's website, that I find troubling. What does abortion (pro or con) have to do with software? Having that there will surely lose the company *some* business, and so is bad for the company by definition. That's something I would bring up at a staff meeting and object to (personally).

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), August 16, 2001.

Do you drive a vehicle? My guess would be that someone who was ungodly designed, constructed, oversaw, or was involved in it in some form. Should this stop you from using a vehicle? No! You can do much more good with a vehicle than without.

My advice is...Don't worry about that kind of stuff. Let the people that worked on the Bourne Again Shell answer to God. May it be on their hands and not yours.

By the way...You don't have to use BASH. There are a ton of other shells out there. It just seems to be the most popular.

-- Jason Young (openwaters@email.com), December 17, 2002.