Re: [tlug] Wine and installing of Internet Explorer

[jeraldweinstein@example.com]

Josh Glover <tlug@example.com>
wrote:


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

I appreciate your drawing a diagram, they're much more fun to
read than text.

>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".

That's silly.  I'm as much as an advocate for Linux as the next person
who enjoys this newsgroup.

>I am not in any way making a value judgement here

Sorry, but yes you are.
Pet peeves we all exercise from time to time.

>not wanting to pay
>for software is a completely valid point of view. 

If I need software, believe me I'll go through hell or highwater to hunt it down.
And I will pay for it.

>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.

It has been at once saddening and good that Open Source has become more
of an enterprise, I think.  Part of the fun of Open Source for me has been that
it used to be totally free of corporate environments where the profit motive
deadened the creativity of software developers such as yourself.

>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.

Thank you , Josh.  I wish I could change professions and be an Open Source
Developer like you.  But I can't.  I get my fix of it by trying to actively stay
involved in threads  that  I need to gather information on here in the confines of
tlug!


Jerald Weinstein M.S.