Re: Fwd: from R.S. on Open Source vs Free Software
On Tue, Feb 24, 1998 at 03:17:31PM +0100, Dario Massarenti wrote:
> Hi,
> what term are we using? I can't totally disagree
> with Richard here, especially with the XV/Qt example...
I think many people like the idea of using whichever term is
appropriate for the situation. I still like to explain free software
to people that I am directly interacting with, but Open Source has its
advantages too. Most people take it for granted that free == 0 cost.
I think open source at least makes them take note of what it is at
least. Although, as RMS states, there is certainly room for
ambiguity.
> We are failing to keep up with the influx of free software users,
> failing to teach people about freedom and our community as fast as
> they enter it. This is why non-free software such as Qt and SuSe
> finds such fertile ground. To stop using the word "free" now would be
> a mistake; we need more, not less, talk about freedom.
I wholeheartedly agree with this, but I think it is not quite so
related to the name issue as RMS may suggest.
> Let's hope that those using the term "open source" will indeed draw
> more users into our community; but if they do, the rest of us will
> have to work even harder to bring the issue of freedom to those users'
> attention. We have to say, "It's free software and it gives you
> freedom!"--more and louder than ever before.
This is, once again, right on the mark!
--
David Welton http://www.efn.org/~davidw
Debian GNU/Linux - www.debian.org
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