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Not going OT but has anyone noticed that this dispute (and really, it's the same one, happens about once a week from what I've seen during my short time here) bears a striking resemblance to American politics? Everyone's so busy taking the extreme view that no one realizes the middle ground is where the answer lies.
I spend more time with my nose in a keyboard than a book, but as a fan of the open-source movement there's a big similarity there as well. On the one hand you have Ballmer and his "pure" capitalism where profit is the primary motive, and on the other you have Stallman, who believes no one owns information much less has the right to charge for it. Stallman's view is wrong because everyone has the right to earn a living, Ballmer's view is wrong because most definitions of capitalism don't include the word "blackmail" (Google Novell's "deal with the devil"). Again, somewhere in between is where the rational answer can be found.
Unfortunately, as long as the Ballmers and the Stallmans of the world are calling the shots, it'll just be a multibillion-dollar pissing contest, no matter the media. Extremism sucks.
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