[ Thanks to Greta
Durr for this link. ]
“With freedom come some guidelines. “The Free Software
Foundation follows the rule that we cannot install any proprietary
program on our computers, except temporarily, for the specific
purpose of writing a free replacement for that very program,”
Foundation officials said. “Aside from that, we feel there is no
possible excuse for installing a proprietary program.”
“For example, we felt justified in installing UNIX on our
computer in the 1980s, because we were using it to write a free
replacement for UNIX. Nowadays, since free OSs are available, the
excuse is no longer applicable; we have eliminated all our non-free
operating systems, and any new computer we install must run a
completely free OS.”
“The foundation doesn’t force GNU users or contributors to live
by this rule. “It is a rule we made for ourselves,” the Foundation
explained.”