---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Alagunambi Welkin" <[email protected]> Date: May 24, 2012 11:45 PM Subject: [FSFTN] Discussion on the ideology of Free Software To: <[email protected]>
Dear Friends, Even though many of you may already know the difference between Free Software and Open Source software, I would like to clarify further in simple terms and also share some thoughts as to why this difference is important. “Free Software compels the derivatives to be Free Software, whereas Open Source software relaxes the freedom to restrict the derivatives” What does this mean? Open Source projects may give rise to the possibility of stopping redistribution of its derivatives. This is because Open Source ideology permits it. In the case of a free software license, there would be no way to stop the distribution of its derivatives. Thus, we see that a project that has been created for the community by the community can be restricted and commercialized in such a way that its benefits do not reach the community properly. Open Source ideology permits such an activity. It restricts the free transmission of knowledge.. Please note, one can still make money out of Free Software and this can be done even while permitting the distribution of knowledge which rightly belongs to the people and society. We all know the reason why the Free Software movement exists - it exists as an alternative to proprietary software that restricts knowledge. But considering the above explanation, I feel that Open Source might be ‘the future face of proprietary software’. Of course, it will not be as harmful as the proprietary software is now. But in a future where proprietary models lose their relevance, open source technology might become a big hurdle to the sharing of knowledge. That is why I call Open Source ‘the future face of proprietary software’. Whatever stops the natural spread of knowledge through society is harmful to society. As students, workers and activists who specialize in technology, it is our duty to take a stand; a stand on the side of the people, society and for the free sharing of knowledge. In this context, let us consider another term Free & Open Source Software(FOSS). Many use FOSS as a compromise. They think by using this term, they can satisfy both sides. But as we have seen above, Free Software and Open Source software are built on two different ideas. Bringing the two together does not make any sense. As activists, the kind of language we use is very important because we are setting standards for the rest of the community. When we use the term FOSS, we are confusing people who end up thinking Free Software and Open Source software are the same thing. Once again. let us remember that Free Software stands for a system where knowledge belongs to the community. -- Alagunambi Welkin _______________________________________________ Mailinglist mailing list [email protected] http://fsftn.org/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_fsftn.org _______________________________________________ ILUGC Mailing List: http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc
