From: r...@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Richard Stallman)
Subject: Re: "Programming with GNU Software", 35% off at Readme .Doc!
Date: 1997/03/07
Message-ID: <199703070615.BAA29158@psilocin.gnu.ai.mit.edu>#1/1
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Please do not use GNU newsgroups to advertise books (or software)
that users are not free to copy and redistribute.

A good operating system includes documentation.  If the operating
system is free, this documentation needs to be free as well.  The GNU
system and other free operating systems do not have all the
documentation that they need; there are major gaps.

One of the reasons these gaps persist is that many people think that
non-free documentation is sufficient--people do not recogize the gaps
as a real problem, because they think that non-free documentation is
sufficient.  When users buy non-free manuals about GNU software, this
just encourages writing more of them--instead of the free manuals
(free in the sense of freedom) that we need.

So the GNU project hopes that you will not buy such books if you can
possibly help it.

The decision of what you buy is up to you.  But whatever you decide,
please don't advertise these books on our newsgroups and mailing lists.