Hi, The enemy is proprietary software.
Notice that a lot of people confuse open source software with free software. Here's another extract from one of the links I've posted. The official definition of "open source software," as published by the Open Source Initiative, is very close to our definition of free software; however, it is a little looser in some respects, and they have accepted a few licenses that we consider unacceptably restrictive of the users. However, the obvious meaning for the expression "open source software" is "You can look at the source code." This is a much weaker criterion than free software; it includes free software, but also includes semi-free<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html#semi-freeSoftware>programs such as Xv, and even some proprietary<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html#ProprietarySoftware>programs, including Qt under its original license (before the QPL). We shouldn't confuse people with terms like Free Software and Open Source together. Freedom of usage is one of the freedom, but there are a few others too. And some might not fall under certain open source software. A software that lacks one of the freedom is not called Free Software. You shouldn't be mixing the ideology of free software along with the promise of creating better software through open-source. Creating better software through open-source is a secondary bonus to Free Software Movement, and not the primary objective unlike Open Source Movement. If anyone is a bit confused, then noob might be more confused. Regards John On 6/20/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
"FS vs OSS! Let's battle!" No... this is wrong. Why are we fighting among ourselves when our enemy is clearly still controlling the masses? We can argue till the cows come home and yet won't have any conclusion. So why not we save our energy and work together? There is so many brains here (yours certainly better than mine) that can let this group start a campaign. There must be alternate ways to promote the ideology of free software along with the promise of creating better software through open-source. If naming is going to be a problem, maybe we can start by having a mission statement like "Linux: Committed to developing better software through open source and providing the freedom of usage" or "Linux - Free & Open". Just my two-cent worth, James -----Original Message----- From: Lam YongXian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [email protected] Sent: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:15 am Subject: Re: [Slugnet] Should we start calling this OS GNU/Linux? > The average systems admin > who is running the os because of stability and security will not > really care about software freedom. It is really hard to say, I wouldn't generalize. Even if they really don't, we should teach them. Thats what advocates are for. > Having non free software in a GNU system kinda defeat the whole > ideology right? Yes, it does. But nothing is ever absolute. The main argument is, it is still a GNU/Linux based system despite not having 100% GNU stuff, unless otherwise (0% GNU). > I can safely bet that the naming won't change by the time this thread is done. It is about changing individuals vocabulary, not a culture vocabulary. And to affect the culture, it takes time and effort. We are not asking the government to proclaim 'Linux' being "Changed" to 'GNU/Linux', in one =poof=. If everyone thinks like what you said, FSF would have vanished long ago. -- Lam YongXian Adolflam.com FSF Member #5279 Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html _______________________________________________ Slugnet mailing list [email protected] http://www.lugs.org.sg/mailman/listinfo/slugnet ------------------------------ *Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail*<http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1081283466x1074645346/aol?redir=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaim%2Ecom%2Ffun%2Fmail%2F>-- 2 GB of storage and industry-leading spam and email virus protection. _______________________________________________ Slugnet mailing list [email protected] http://www.lugs.org.sg/mailman/listinfo/slugnet
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