[ILUG-BOM] my take on todays seminar (was: please explain Open source & free software)

[Haig Earl]

--- Harshal Patil <harshal1234 at sify.com> wrote:
> hi,
>       could anybody explain me what differences the
> open source & the
> free software movements have?
>      i mean both of them give the source code, they
> allow you to modify,
> redistribute. then why is this quarrel?

ok, i see that today's lecture by RMS has raised a few
queries and also replies. i'd like to reply to the
above post and also add my 2 cents. let me first start
with a disclaimer.

THIS IS PURELY MY UNDERSTANDING AND MY OPINION. YMMV.

first lets look at your question. when you say FSF, i
boldly assume what you really mean is GNU/GPL. FSF has
several licences, the most important being GPL (as
said by RMS today).

Open source says that the piece of code is yours to
play with. do whatever the hell you want with it,
redistribute it, modify it, nuke japan with it. simple
and short and sweet.

GNU/GPL is all of the above, but goes a little
further. It says whatever you do with the code, you
give it away with the GPL license in tact. In short,
you can modify it but cant restrict the modified code
with your own non-disclosure contract or whatever the
companies restrict propreitory code with. So theres
kind of a binding that you cannot take away one's
freedom. In other words, where the code goes, freedom
goes along with it.

Now with that in place, i would like to put forth my
views on RMS's philosophy.

I DONT COMPLETELY AGREE WITH IT! SIMPLE. And here's
why...

RMS talks about freedom not only in the context of
software, but freedom as a way of life. Freedom to be
able to do what we want and not be restricted with
licences and laws and whatever else not. And in the
same breath, i hear him vehemently saying, requesting,
pushing, forcing, psyching people into using only
GNU/GPL'ed software. Now is HE giving people freedom
to use what they want ? Is that giving people freedom
to choose the kind of software they want ?

Besides, if there was one thing I hated, it was
bashing MS. Well, i still feel Outlook Express rocks!
but thats my opinion. Also my opinion is that its not
cool to bash one to prove a point. 

Freedom for me is when I can choose what I want. Not
when I am presented with just one option and asked to
choose !!

I love linux, so great i have been using it. I tried
FreeBSD, loved it. Now im using that (too). I may
shift to HURD, or OpenBSD or whatever i want. The
point is, I  exercise MY freedom to choose what I
want.

According to RMS, debian is the true GNU/GPL distro,
and none else. Well, he is right. but so what ? 

The bottomline is, within RMS's framework of freedom,
there is NO freedom. 

What I did like is his commitment towards GNU/GPL. But
then thats about his personal trait.

I say, use whatever you want. thats freedom. 

If you do not agree to anything mentioned above, read
my disclaimer, and deal !

cheerio,
- sagar.

P.S: save your bouquets and brickbats to another
occassion, unless its gonna enhance the quality of
this thread !



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