[Fsf-friends] Re: Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 33, Issue 10

[Krishna Pagadala]

>do all proprietary software have free software to copmete with?
  
  Short Answer is NO. Little longer answer is Almost All software that ordinary people use has free software competition.
  
  > why should normal ppl like you n me be interested in free software
  > when we never buy licensed software?
  Short Answer: Listen to Eben Moglen recent speech where he answers this question. Beyond Free Software: Ultimate Legal Consequences of the Free Information Movement
  http://www.antitrustisti.net/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=41
  
  Long answer
  1) Legal problems from NASCOMM are one reason.
  2) More importantly you dont have all freedoms, and not having freedom is a problem. 
      
   the freedom to run the program for any purpose (called "freedom 0")
   the freedom to study and modify the program ("freedom 1")
   the freedom to copy the program so you can help your neighbor ("freedom 2")
   the freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements  to the public, so that the whole community benefits ("freedom 3")  
  
  e.g. You dont have right to read and understand the program, all  students of computers should care about this. You dont have right to  make improvements, so localization cannot be made. Both of us can read  and write english but normal ppl cannot do so, if you want to localize  M$ word you are out of luck, with Free Software like Open Office you  can do it.
  
  From wikipedia "Furthermore, the openness of free software eases internationalization creating economic and social benefits for users in more countries"
  
  3) As we are finding out, property regimes of knowledge are inefficient and create indirect taxes, I would like to avoid them.
  4) Would you want to support Wikipedia or MSN encarta? both are free of  cost but if you wanted to contribute, where will your contributions go?  Wikipedia right?
Why? Because wikipedia is Free as in Freedom, and nobody makes money off of it.
  
  > what have been the milestones in the history of free software movement?
  
  It is a long road to freedom, with incremental milestones. Foundation  of FSF in 1984, Linux kernel release in 1991 count as two major  milestones. If you want a history LWN yearly timelines are a good  resource http://lwn.net/Articles/163414/
  
  > makes an exact copy of it (gpl software) and sells it for some price
  > and makes millions over it,hows it justified in that case?
  
  Unlikely. I am yet to see people making money like that. Some people  made a lot of money by selling services or distributions, but not based  solely on one single peice of software.
  
  But what you are saying can happen with BSD/MIT licensed software. My  guess is that those licenses are less popular for this reason.
  
  
  Warm Regards,
  Krishna
  
Mishi Choudhary <mishi_c at rediffmail.com> wrote:    
hi krishna
tons of thnx for answering my questions,thgere re a few more
as  i understand if i develop a software licensed under gpl it implies that  anyone else is allowedto copy it ,distribute it,modify it and do  whatever is allowed to do as per gpl.then if i develop a software and a  person x makes an exact copy of it and sells it for some priceand makes  millions over it,hows it justified in that case?

what have been the milestones in the history of free software movement?

do all proprietary software have free software to copmete with?

why should normal ppl like you n me be interested in free software when we never buy licensed software?

Warm Regards
Mishi Choudhary


=====================================
To Reflect, to Inspire and to Empower
http://www.employees.org/~krishnap/

    The great moral question of the twenty-first century is: If all knowledge, all culture, all art, all useful information, can be costlessly given to everyone at the same price that it is given to anyone -- if everyone can have everything, everywhere, all the time, why is it ever moral to exclude anyone from anything? -Eben Moglen
			
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