Re: [LUG] Free software and users

[Dave Trudgian <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Neil Williams wrote:

> <snipped much good argument>

I like your style of argument against what I mentioned Neil :-) It's 
very clear that you are passionate about what you believe in and have 
arrived at it the right way (i.e. not through brain washing). I'm going 
to have to agree to disagree with things however. I appreciate that the 
FSF has given huge amounts, for which I am very greatful, I'm just of 
the the opinion (similar to Eric Raymond in his articles) that RMS style 
freedom evangalism is not the way to promote things. For one thing, the 
terminology is confusing to many, yes those who are interested will pick 
it up but I *know* that the whole "what is free?" thing puts people off.

The way to promote things is to show the actual fruits of open source, 
great apps. Where there aren't OSS apps that usere like I personally 
think proprietary software doesn't cause huge harm due to the fact that 
it's a drop in the ocean off free software making up GNU/Linux installs. 
I certainly use OSS wherever possible, and have actually filed bug 
reports to things. I also chose to make my undergraduate dissertation 
project available to all.

There are thousands upon thousands of people out there who could help 
the GNU/Linux cause by simply being passive users. They'll never ever 
bother keeping up with current versions, filing bug reports, but by 
simply using the software they will aid the cause by increasing user 
base. Big user base  = esteem for developers = more developers 
interested. Millions of people use mozilla stuff on windows. Why? 
because it is great software. not many of these people give much back 
yet see how the Mozilla project has grown through having an enormous 
user base. They concentrated on having the best browser, not pushing it 
as being free. Look at their homepage. Currently no mention of "free", 
lots of mention of features, how it's better than IE etc. That's how I 
think things should be.

> There is no justification for hiding source code - 
> read that again: NONE. All source code is for sharing.

I also disagree on this. Why? Because it's the way the world works (be 
that good or evil). I have been paid for writing code that will not be 
seen by the public. I could not have been paid to write that code as 
open source. Yeah, if things changed enormously it would be possible. 
I'm not prepared, nor are enough people, to go through the economic pain 
that would be a precursor to economic viability of sharing all code. To 
me the fact that people can earn a living by not sharing their code is 
justificiation enough for not sharing it. This does not mean that I do 
not applaud those who share, and those who help people who share to make 
a living.



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