[Fsf-friends] Free Software: What does freedom really mean... to whom?

[Frederick Noronha]

>From geert@desk.nl Sun Nov 10 15:12:16 2002

> 'Free' Software doesn't mean the same as zero-cost software. It means
> that, unlike proprietory software, it gives freedom to its users as
> outlined in the GNU General Public License.

That's a bit of a myth, Frederic. Free software potentially only gives
freedom to those users who are capable of programming, who know how to write
code and want to change the source code of a program. For non-technical
users this freedom is a nice idea but meaningless. With the rise in users,
coders are a diminishing group of people. Normal users may expect other
'freedoms' or values. I think it is time for the programmers community to
take this in account and stop the Stallman talk of freedom, free lunch and
free beer once and for all. These metaphors are not only confusing but also
running out in a time when free software really becomes popular and
transcends its original scene where every user by default was a programmer.
It is time to take the non-technical user into account. That's the 'cultural
turn' the free software movement is heading towards.

Ciao, Geert

--------------END OF GEERT's NOTE-----------------------------------

Geert, There was another point that I was thinking of, in parallel. Free
Software talks about four freedoms. Freedom 0, 1, 2 and 3. Perhaps it
would make sense to include a fifth freedom:

	Freedom of users to get access to computing power at a
	price that does not exclude them simply because they 
	don't have the resources to pay.

Tell me if this is being unrealistic....

Of course we're not still misconstruing the word 'free' to mean zero-price
here. But the fact that GPL'd software is copyable without unfair
restrictions on sharing it with your neighbour, surely means that it
mostly cannot/will not be priced at astronomical prices, as in the case of
proprietorial or non-free software. This may not seem important from a
programers point of view. But from a user's point of view, it is. More so
in the price-sensitive countries which we live in.

As a user myself (who hasn't done a line of code in my life), this issue
is something that has been gaining my attention subconsciously and
otherwise. It is great that the idealism of the Free Software programmers
eggs them on to write world-class software, often (or in many
cases) without thinking of financial returns alone. That they share the 
fruit of their work with others is also great. So is the fact that this 
helps spread the process for creation and sharing of knowledge. But where
does the user fit into this whole project?

On another issue, I think that the ideals of Free Software need to be
extended to other fields too (including journalism, where the money has
become good in recent years in countries like India but increasingly
journalists are feeling choked by their inability to express themselves
freely). 

Maybe there is still confusion in understanding the issues involved. But
this debate could help. 

Copying this to others for a wider debate. Flames welcome. FN
--
Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783
BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org  * GNU-LINUX http://linuxinindia.pitas.com
Email fred@bytesforall.org * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India
Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference