Open source is founded on a compromise between Free software idealism and business pragmatism. Business is willing to ignore the unsavory aspects of Free software, while recognizing its utility, superior develoment method etc. It is an unnecessary compromise, that is heavily biased toward the utility of free software.
This is disturbing for those of us who see Free software as more than just useful software. In the end the best guarantor of the continued existence of Free software is the Free software movement. Because it is the ideals of Free software that will ultimately keep Free software going. i.e keep Open source honest. Without the Free software movement, the open source movement will keep compromising with practicality until it ultimately becomes no different from proprietary software.
On a more mundane level. It is astonishing to see the degree of misunderstanding of the concepts and principle of Free software exhibited by the mainstream press. Its common to see publications such as Businessweek asserting that open source software cannot be sold, or that it is in the public domain, or at variance with accepted norms of intellectual property, or that it subverts copyright and intellectual property. I think there is little effort on the part of open source software activists to impart the principles of Open source or even Free software to new users. This must surely, ultimately weaken the community.
I don't agree with RMS that ALL software MUST be Free software. I certainly agree with Linus that he who writes the software gets to pick the license. However, this is not to deny that some licenses are better than others and Free software is more beneficial, in most cases than proprietary software. A world largely composed of Free software would be a better place than a world largely composed of proprietary software. To achieve this we must recognize the central importance of the ideals of Free software and not just its utility
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RMS is right
Posted by: emk on March 18, 2003 12:32 AMThis is disturbing for those of us who see Free software as more than just useful software. In the end the best guarantor of the continued existence of Free software is the Free software movement. Because it is the ideals of Free software that will ultimately keep Free software going. i.e keep Open source honest. Without the Free software movement, the open source movement will keep compromising with practicality until it ultimately becomes no different from proprietary software.
On a more mundane level. It is astonishing to see the degree of misunderstanding of the concepts and principle of Free software exhibited by the mainstream press. Its common to see publications such as Businessweek asserting that open source software cannot be sold, or that it is in the public domain, or at variance with accepted norms of intellectual property, or that it subverts copyright and intellectual property. I think there is little effort on the part of open source software activists to impart the principles of Open source or even Free software to new users. This must surely, ultimately weaken the community.
I don't agree with RMS that ALL software MUST be Free software. I certainly agree with Linus that he who writes the software gets to pick the license. However, this is not to deny that some licenses are better than others and Free software is more beneficial, in most cases than proprietary software. A world largely composed of Free software would be a better place than a world largely composed of proprietary software. To achieve this we must recognize the central importance of the ideals of Free software and not just its utility
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