"Lefty (石鏡 )" <[email protected]> writes: >> "Open source" doesn't imply any reason or policy for rejecting >> proprietary software... > > I'm afraid I really have to disagree here: "open source software" is > software which is made available under a license which satisfies the Open > Source Definition
The Open Source Definition gives criteria for categorising software as open source or not, but it doesn't suggest why someone might avoid or replace non-open-source software. The categorisation (which, in practice, is pretty much identical to The Free Software Definition which predates it) can be made use of by GNOME, but only because GNOME already has a philosophy of what to do with software categorised as non-free/non-open-source: reject it from the repositories. This philosphy comes from GNOME itself and its roots in the free software movement. It doesn't and couldn't come from the Open Source Definition. The last few mails in this thread suggest that people are happy with this aspect of GNOME's philosophy. So it's something worth maintaining. How do we ensure that newcomers see the philosophy and the reasons for avoiding or rewriting non-free/non-open-source software? Using the term "free software" helps because it leads people to make a connection with a philosophy that answers exactly that question. Other helpful measures can include more prominently displaying the fact that GNOME insists on freedom, and explanations of why software freedom is valuable. Adding "open source" makes the goal somewhat harder because it will redirect some attention from a definition+philosophy(FSD) to just a definition(OSD). If this is done, then the helpful measures mentioned above become even more important. -- Ciarán O'Riordan, +32 487 64 17 54, http://ciaran.compsoc.com Please help build the software patents wiki: http://en.swpat.org http://www.EndSoftwarePatents.org Donate: http://endsoftwarepatents.org/donate List: http://campaigns.fsf.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/esp-action-alert _______________________________________________ foundation-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
