I started programming using Basic on a PC running Windows 95/98 in 1999.
I had a CD with some games that I wanted to modify. Most of these games were
nonfree so I could not modify them, but one was free (A 16 bit windows port
of gnuchess). One year later I tried out SUSE Linux. I had no luck with
GNU/Linux on a notebook. In 2005 I switched to Mac. I was an advocate of
"Open Source" (or noncopylefted free software) at this time. Insted of
Microsoft Office I used OpenOffice. I switched from Mac to Ubuntu in 2011 and
from Ubuntu to Trisquel in 2013. Recently I baught a notebook from
ThinkPenguin.com. Today I prefer copylefted free software.
I found a blog of a free software activist who is forced to use Mac OS X at
work. (http://weblog.zamazal.org/osx.html)
He added singing synthesis support to GNU LilyPond.
Another nonfree singing synthesis software that I use is UTAU.
UTAU uses resampler, and most resamplers are nonfree. All free resamplers are
based on WORLD, which was originally licensed under the GNU GPL. The author
dropped FFTW and relicensed WORLD under the modified BSD License. The latest
WORLD based resampler is nonfree again.
(http://www.slp.is.ritsumei.ac.jp/~morise/world/).
Sometimes I install nonfree programs, to do reverse engineering.
Then I start writing a free replacement. If the free replacement becomes
usable then I will remove the nonfree program.
