Re: [OOT] Free Software - was Re: Toner refill
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 01:25:20PM EST, Bob Proulx wrote:
> Chris Jones wrote:
> > Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
> > > Free Software has *never* been about cost. It is about the
> > > freedoms to use, study, and modify the software.
> >
> > How would one ‘use, study, and modify the software’ if one could not
> > afford it in the first place?
>
> The cost is not a monetary cost.
[..]
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 03:33:08PM EST, Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
> In <[🔎] 20101117172626.GB30626@turki.gavron.org>, Chris Jones wrote:
> >On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 12:25:00PM EDT, Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
> >
> >[..]
> >
> >> Free Software has *never* been about cost. It is about the
> >> freedoms to use, study, and modify the software.
> >
> >How would one ‘use, study, and modify the software’ if one could not
> >afford it in the first place?
>
> Those are the rights guaranteed by Free Software to entities receiving
> the software. They do not make a requirement that everyone is able to
> receive the software.
[..]
Thanks for reminding me that the discussion was in reference to the GPL
concept of ‘Free Software¹’ as stated in its preamble, rather than the
generally accepted meaning of ‘free software’ in everyday English.
All the same, from a general perspective, I still pretty much stand by
what I wrote, namely that the relative success of GNU/Linux and other
non-proprietory software and the incredible diversity of options we now
have to populate our machines is first and foremost due to the fact that
said software is available for download at no monetary cost to the
user/developer.. even if at least where GNU software is concerned, this
aspect is only a non-intentional side-effect.
I mean, what good does it do to a would-be ‘Free Software’ developer to
eventually ‘get credit for his work’ if he cannot afford the luxury of
a C compiler to start off with?
Incidentally, I became a user of free software after I bought a laptop
on a whim, when after a couple weeks, I got bored with the copy of Win98
that came with it. I resented the fact that I did not have the freedom
to customize it to my liking save for trivial stuff like changing the
size of my fonts or the colors of my GUI. So I drove to the store and
paid $179.00 for a boxed copy of RedHat 6.2. Only later did I find out
about ‘gratis’. Later yet about ‘libre’..
I, for one should know the difference.
cj
¹ Where it becomes even more confusing for humble users like myself is
that ‘Free Software’ apparently means different things depending on
who you listen to: http://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses
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