[Fsf-india] From free beer to free speech?

[Gopal.V]

If memory serves me right, VaRuN SiNhA wrote:
> I stand corrected. But no one said revolutions were easy.

This is a point most people miss -- it is a revolution, not
a transition. That makes all the difference !.
> I stand corrected once again. But do u think that freedom is *really* enough
> of a reason for a business person to make the switch ?

Sometimes yes -- the freedom to copy and install a software in all the
systems you own/maintain is quite interesting to a business purchaser.
Similarly there are various distros (which is an offshoot of freedom
to redistribute).

All the good things you can say about FS are the result of Freedom
(directly or indirectly).

> The way I see it, the main aim is to switch people from PS to FS; 
> please let me know if I am wrong 

I hope the F in FS stands for "Free" as in Freedom. Yes, but when
people use the tools as OSS (ie Free beer only) , where does the 
FS come in ?.

> If they are told that they are getting free beer+free speech, don't
> you think that is a greater incentive?

For the buyer , yes !. But what about the developers -- not all of us
can afford to live on savings -- we would like to get something out of
our work. I'm GPL'ing my code , not my work (hours,effort....). What's
the incentive for me (I work , not the users !) ?

The "Free Beer" has almost destroyed the Professional Free Software 
developer as a species. These are the people who are providing 
quality software and support. Once they die out, the Users will 
suffer......  There's a limit to the productivity of a daily 2
hour volunteer.

> I sincerely feel that in the long run, FS will end up being as good if not
> better than PS, for the simple reason that you will have thousands of groups
> working with the same FS, each addding their own expertise, ideas and
> modifications, rather than the strict (?) boundaries of the PS companies.

For the above mentioned reason we believe "Freedom" and "Incentive" of
the developer is a *VERY* important necessity. These things are affected
adversely by emphasis on "FREE BEER".

> > offers. The  hypothetical free software  company is killed  before its
> > first business deal!
> Even if the company is offered free speech+free beer?

Then there is no business to lose !. Free Beer will kill any profits they
might have had. They'll either have to sell or stop writing the software.

> But the company became aware of the free speech aspect through the free
> beer aspect.

Unlikely :( -- name a few .... 

The Freedom goes above the head of most business men -- free beer is 
the only thing that hits home. That has been misused by many
to destroy the economic foundation FS companies were building......

> Correction: I  spent 3000 bucks on a GNU system.

I would like to see the look on a US guy's face when he thinks 
you meant 3000 USD :)

> What it proves, or I *hoped* that it would prove, is that I am willing to
> *pay* for freedom even while I am getting PS for (nearly) 0 cost. As I am
> sure are many others.

Yes there are people -- some pay cash, others write code...... 
You're doing the right thing , but once you feed "Free Beer" and 
forget "Freedom" -- do you think someone will pay ?.

> Because by introducing people to FS through the free beer concept (something
> every person will easily understand), they can they be made aware of the
> free speech concept. But I personally feel it will be very difficult to
> start people off straight away from free speech aspects.

The problem is that newbies stop at "Free Beer" , they don't ask 
why it is "Free Beer" and we don't get a chance to explain "Freedom".

Freedom is easy to explain. You can take this and do what ever you 
want -- use it, copy it, burn a cd , read the code , reuse the code.....

> Why won't I be attracted to FS because of free speech+free beer 
> as against PS's offering of only free beer?

That's exactly why we should advertise something PS doesnot have !.
"Free" as in "Free Speech" or "Freedom".

> But HOW to I make her care about freedom from day one. How can I get to
> start using it just on the argument of free speech? 

Get her a mandrake and search slashdot for "Linux for Mom" (came in Dec 01).


> initiated to FS through free beer and then be made familiar with free
> speech, isn't the goal achieved?

Yes, but this is a risky path -- If you start advocating this some people
may start on Free Beer but may never reach the Free Speech part.

A better idea will be to talk about why it came "gratis" ... because
lots of people around the world saw what "Freedom" meant and paid back
the "Freedom" they got in "Good Solid Code" -- So how are you going to
pay for your "Freedom" ?.

> Or are you more concerned about the means and not the goal?

The ends do not justify the means !.

> But I feel for the common person (my mum included) free beer will grab their
> attention more than free speech.

Unfortunately very true..... I think we'll wait until Microsoft conquers
Earth until we start speaking about Freedom -- then may be they'll sit
up and take notice.

> Good. Now maybe you can convince me. I would be grateful.

These are two inherent attributes of software -- nothing special
to Free Software. We're talking about "Why Free Software ROCKS !".
Simple, coz it's "Free" in every sense of the word and will remain
"Free" forever . All other things are variables and will not favour
you forever.

Look how GNU have changed -- starting from an editor and growing 
into a full OS (and still going strong). So I hope you realize why
we can't apply the same logic to compare FS over the times to PS
(quality,cost...) -- only constant in that equation is FREEDOM.

Gopal.V
-- 
 The difference between insanity and genius is only measured by success
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