Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on January 05, 2004 11:48 PM
It is very important that the code is available for developers to protect against the back doors. But Joe doesnt know the dangers of back doors and doesn't really care about licensing issues.
Joe wants an easy to use computer that is reliable. And when he has a problem he wants to know where to go to solve it.
While you are right that Stallman argues we should encourage people to value freedom, he does seem to me to assert that because he started this thing for that reason we should all fall inline.
I'm not arguing against Stallman, but I am asserting that there are other reasons to use open source tools. I started using open source tools because I believe that there are tools that should be free (operating systems and communication tools for example) and because I can't agree to MS licensing agreements but I dont believe every applicaiton should necessarily be free. And I do believe that each organization or individual has the right to choose free or non-free in the distribution of their tools. Even the tools written for a free OS.
Isn't the idea that everything must be free somewhat antisocial in that it alienates those who choose to protect their intellectual capital?
That being said, don't read into this that I hold the idea of intellectual capital too highly. While I'm still working to clarify some aspects of my philosophy here, I do believe that intellectual property litigation has hurt society.
What if the inventor of the wheel had tried to protect his intellectual capital?
However, I do believe that each individual or organization has the right to decide how to best distribute their work product. Stallman doesn't discount the right but he does suggest that the open source community should only support those who value freedom.
Users seek freedom for many reasons, all of those reasons shed light on the needs and philosophies of the community, contributing to the whole.
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Re:Open Source and Broader Community
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on January 05, 2004 11:48 PMJoe wants an easy to use computer that is reliable. And when he has a problem he wants to know where to go to solve it.
While you are right that Stallman argues we should encourage people to value freedom, he does seem to me to assert that because he started this thing for that reason we should all fall inline.
I'm not arguing against Stallman, but I am asserting that there are other reasons to use open source tools. I started using open source tools because I believe that there are tools that should be free (operating systems and communication tools for example) and because I can't agree to MS licensing agreements but I dont believe every applicaiton should necessarily be free. And I do believe that each organization or individual has the right to choose free or non-free in the distribution of their tools. Even the tools written for a free OS.
Isn't the idea that everything must be free somewhat antisocial in that it alienates those who choose to protect their intellectual capital?
That being said, don't read into this that I hold the idea of intellectual capital too highly. While I'm still working to clarify some aspects of my philosophy here, I do believe that intellectual property litigation has hurt society.
What if the inventor of the wheel had tried to protect his intellectual capital?
However, I do believe that each individual or organization has the right to decide how to best distribute their work product. Stallman doesn't discount the right but he does suggest that the open source community should only support those who value freedom.
Users seek freedom for many reasons, all of those reasons shed light on the needs and philosophies of the community, contributing to the whole.
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