Re: [tlug] Wine and installing of Internet Explorer

[Josh Glover <tlug@example.com>]

Quoth jeraldweinstein@example.com (Sun 2004-06-06 10:16:47AM -0700):

> Godwin Stewart <gstewart@example.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > > Another is Crossover (non-free-as-in-beer-or-speech).
> > 
> > I haven't tried with Crossover yet.  Is it Open Source (free?)
> 
> > >  > You might want to take a closer look at those last 2 lines.....
> 
> Suddenly, the open source (junkie) saw that something costs~!@#?
> Argh!!!
> 
> Or else I am the biggest tighwad on the planet. :)

I tried to resist entering this thread, since I am fairly non-political
when it comes to Open Source software--I use it simply because it makes
me a more efficient coder.

However, you have touched on one of my pet peeves:

The definition of Open Source software includes the requirement that
software be free as in speech (with various definitions of exactly
what "free as in speech means", which is at the kernel of RMS's
beef with "Open Source" as opposed to "Free Software"; for the
purposes of most sane people, suffice it to whip out a Venn
diagram:[1][2]

+----------------------------------+
|                                  |
|           Open Source            |
|                                  |
|        +---------------+         |
|        |               |         |
|        | Free Software |         |
|        |               |         |
|        +---------------+         |
|                                  |
+----------------------------------+

meaning that all "Free Software" is "Open Source", but while *some*
"Open Source" is "Free Software", *all* "Open Source" *not*
"Free Software" (*now* I wish I had enabled paren matching in vim!)).

Not only does the definition of Open Source[3] (or Free Software[4],
for that matter) not require "free as in beer", many (if not most) Open
Source licences[5] explicitly allow for selling the software (or
profitting in *some* way from the source code). 

So, if you desire software that is "free as in beer", please refrain
from considering yourself an Open Source advocate. Say it simply:
"I prefer not to pay money for software".

I am not in any way making a value judgement here; not wanting to pay
for software is a completely valid point of view. It just happens that
so many people equate Open Source with "free as in beer" that it has
become a significant problem, and a barrier to adoption in enterprise /
corporate environments.

I myself am perfectly willing to pay money for software, Open Source
or otherwise, if it is good software (defined by me as making me *more*
efficient or enabling me to perform a necessary task at all). I am not
willing to pay money to Microsoft, because I feel that doing so is
detrimental to the field of software engineering in which I am gainfully
employed. Neither am I willing to run Windows when I have a licence key,
obtained legally or otherwise, because I feel that the Windows OS is
detrimental to the Internet as a whole, both in terms of security and in
terms of standards adherence.

When I have extra money to spend, I will fund Open Source projects by
buying:

- Shrink-wrapped software: I used to buy every new release of Red Hat
  Linux, even after I stopped actually running it, because I wanted to
  reward Red Hat for their efforts, especially in the area of kernel
  development
- Swag: after all, one can never have too many T-shirts, coffee mugs,
  etc, featuring Tux[6], the BSD Daemon[7], or your favourite Linux
  distro[8]?

Or just doing a straight-up PayPal donation, now that those have caught
on.

However, from the point of view of an Open Source developer[9], I can
say that the nicest contribution a user can make is an email saying
something along the lines of, "Thanks for writing foo! I find it very
useful for fooing my collection of bars!" He may or may not then go
on to request a feature, report a bug, or attach a patch, but it is
just the simple act of saying "thank you" that makes my day better.

In fact, for me, the main reason that I do Open Source is as a
courtesy to my fellow man. In this, RMS and I are on the same page.
I just do not go so far as to suggest that it is the *moral obligation*
of *everyone else* to do as I do. ;)

-Josh

[1]  Americans: remember those from ~5th grade!? :) [10]
[2]  Bugger if the sweet, siren call of ASCII art isn't nigh
     irresistable!
[3]  http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php
[4]  http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
[5]  http://www.opensource.org/licenses/
[6]  http://www.linux.org/about/donate.html#shirt
[7]  http://www.bsdmall.com/dexter.html
[8]  http://store.gentoo.org/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=41
[9]  http://www.jmglov.net/opensource/
[10] No slight intended to non-Americans, I just do not have the
     frame of reference to determine when you were exposed to Venn
     diagrams (and ad nauseum at that!)

-- 
Josh Glover

Gentoo Developer (http://dev.gentoo.org/~jmglov/)
Tokyo Linux Users Group Listmaster (http://www.tlug.jp/)

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