Ethical dilemma: Should I continue to use the Linspire-sponsored freelinuxemail.com?
Given Linspire's recent "intellectual property" deal with Microsoft, by which MS agrees not to sue Linspire or its customers over so-called patent violations in Linux (and leaving the rest of us out to dry), should I continue to use the freelinuxemail.com service sponsored by Linspire?
First of all, I love the service -- run by fastmail.fm -- because it offers the IMAP protocol, has a super-fast Web interface and in the case of freelinuxemail.com (as opposed to the plain fastmail.fm version) comes with outgoing SMTP service for free (fastmail.fm wants you to either pay for SMTP or use your ISPs server).
All my mutt experiments during my Month on the Command Line were done with freelinuxemail.com, and while I'm not currently using the service, I still have the account there.
But given Linspire's recent actions, I'm feeling a bit squirrely about using the free e-mail. I'm a longtime user of Yahoo Mail, and I've never seen a conflict there -- if, as a so-called "journalist," I didn't actually use this stuff, how could I write about it?
But the Linspire thing has got me thinking. If I want IMAP mail, I could stick to the service provided by my ISP, DSL Extreme (which I pay for), I could upgrade my own fastmail.fm account, or find another provider entirely.
It's a dilemma. What do you think I should do?
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Steven Rosenberg aims to learn what he does not know. He writes about it here.
Steven Rosenberg aims to learn what he does not know. He writes about it here.
You want my opinion?
Drop it like a bad habit. I have been using Linux for 7 years and at the same time seen Microsoft come up with lie after lie to try to scare folks away from Linux. After the things I've seen Microsoft do (lying, falsifying documents, faking evidence in court, etc.) I do whatever I can to avoid using any of their products. They're a very bad company and need to die off. Any Linux vendor which "hops into bed" with them is also bad and deserves to die off.
Have you seen what the "big boys" (Red Hat, Canonical, Mandriva, etc.) in Linux have said? They have said a resounding NO to these useless Microsoft deals, and for good reason.
Anytime someone uses Microsoft products, they are simply helping Microsoft continue to exist, and that is a bad thing.
Adopt Linux and drop all products from Microsoft and any Linux vendor who signs a deal with M$. If enough people do that, eventually they will wake up and smell the coffee.
Do what dangerseeker does (from your earlier post on the matter). Run your own imap server and forward all of your mail to it. Then add squirrelmail to allow you to access it via the web.
With linux, there's no reason you have to be dependent on an external mail provider.
I caught my wife sleeping with my best friend...but jeez, she makes a prize-winning meatloaf...I mean, she should rot in hell for betraying me but damn...I sure like that meatloaf. What do YOU think I should do,
LOL.
Actually, it's a question alot of us have asked ourselves. You have the courage to verbalize it.
tell 'em to go pizz up a rope. that's what I've done. I just use the imap servers from austin.rr.com. I am paying for them so I may as well use em.
anyone seen my wife around here.....
h
How anyone could find fault with helios I do not know, yet another fine post. :D
I agree with the previous posters, no need to help them promote themselves with an @linuxemail address.
You said: "I love the service.."
I recall that emotions are neither tools of cognition, nor determinants of an ethical state.
So, you answered your own question. On one side you have ethics, on the other, emotions. I know which I'd choose.
You haven't stated the core question, which is, are you willing to trust both the privacy and the reliability of your access to your email to someone who's willing to get into bed with Microsoft?
I don't know if you can still get free Netscape.net accounts that you could get when using the Netscape browser (6.2 etc) They use imap on the AOL servers now a days.
I'm pretty happy with my ISP -- DSL Extreme -- and I think I'm going to start using its mail service. They offer both POP and IMAP, and I already have a sweet e-mail address (shr@dslextreme.com). I've always wanted to have an e-mail account that's independent of an ISP, but I don't think it's an imperative to have the same e-mail address for the rest of my natural life, so I'm going to shift my thinking a bit and go with what I've already got and am paying for.
> I've always wanted to have an e-mail account that's independent of an ISP...
http://www.pobox.com
Three email addresses, they redirect them to whatever server you want, and it's $20/year.