Hello, > What freedoms exactly? > > The computer users I know can't code. What are they > going to with the source code they have the freedom to > modify?
I beg to respectfully (though strongly) disagree with you here. If my mom in Togo cannot modify the source code herself, she can ask one of her children, or the software engineer down the road - who just came back from the US and opened a software business to adapt free software to the needs of local people - to modify the source code to match her needs. She would have to pay that software engineer, just the way she pays the house painter to re-paint the mouses of her house to better fit her needs, and that is fair. What I am trying to say here is that freedom has many implications, including fostering local economies in parts of the world you may not even imagine. That is (a lilttle bit of) power back to local people and local economies, at least. So I think we should stay humble in this area. It is not because _you_ don't see the benefits of freedom for someone that you should say it is useless. > And free as in beer makes no difference to them: they > either got their Windows XP with their Dell, or from a > bloke they know with a CD burner. Yes, but getting windows XP illegally is ... illegal. If they don't understand it today, someone is likely to make them understand it one day, the hard way. So it does makes a difference. If they don't understand that, and if they are your friends, you should take time to talk with them and _try_ to make them understand. If they don't, try again. > Freedoms that you can't exercise are meaningless. And I still disagree. Cheers, Dodji. _______________________________________________ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list