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OS X: Manipulating the Clipboard via Command Line

Glider_(clarince63)

From
Stallman
to
Raymond, the favorite counter-tone in recent days has been that jobs was a great
marketer and a shrewd businessman, but that he was ultimately a force for
evil due to his restriction of freedom of computing. This argument is not
even wrong: it’s outright silly.

Consider why it is that BMW is not criticized in the same way. How about
Rolex? People who buy BMWs are forced to choose from freedom-restricting
“BMW” options instead of pure “car” options, yet we don’t accuse them of
hating our freedom. Same with Rolex: they keep making “Rolexy” watches with
a blatant disregard for what options consumers may want instead. They allow
precisely the type of customization that Apple does — “Here are the options,
pick one.”

Yet when Apple does precisely the same thing they’re accused of restricting
freedom in computing.

To me this screams one thing very loudly: they have no belief or confidence
whatsoever in the alternatives to Apple. Imagine if someone came out in the
car industry and said that BMW was restricting freedom by only allowing
certain options on their cars. What would the counter-argument be?

Simple: Audi exists. Lexus exists. Mercedes exists. And people know they
have the option (an important word) to simply use one of those
instead. In order to be angry at BMW for restricting not BMW’s options but
all of the car industry’s options, you have to simultaneously make
the claim that BMW is the only realistically selectable product on the
market.

So is that seriously the argument — that people don’t have options they can
go to? Why can’t people use Windows on whatever hardware they want? Or
Linux? Are those options so horrible that Apple being better constitutes the
restriction of our computing freedom?

This is abject foolishness. Apple is a brand. It’s an option. They are not
the Ministry of Technology. They don’t make you buy from them. If you
choose them from an open field of competitors then that’s on you. If you
don’t like the product options or the ability to customize them with Apple,
use something else and hold your tongue.

The fact that you’re claiming Apple is somehow restrictive when there are so
many competitors available says nothing about Apple and freedom and instead
speaks only to the alternatives and their lack of quality. ::

May 23, 2025

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