On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 12:47 PM, Mark Holmquist <[email protected]> wrote: >> people dont care as much if a piece of software is open source because they >> dont know what the source code even means. they want the best and what works >> for them. at least thats what i find... > > Best article by the FSF ever, I found this just yesterday: > > http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/practical.html > > Essentially, why should you be looking for better software if you are still > in chains? Why should anyone postpone or altogether ignore their struggle for > freedom in order to be more productive within the society that took away > their freedom? > > I find the FSF philosophy articles are generally more succinct than I can be, > so I often link people to them when they start in about the difference > between free and gratis, and other common misunderstandings. >
This debate reminds me of the Nine Inch Nails song, "Happiness in Slavery". I think the answer of your question of "why" is simple economics. In other words, capitalism. ;-) It's tough to live in our society and not be a slave to someone with more money or power than you, in some way. It's great that free software can sometimes even the score. But let's divide the world into two categories for a moment (numbers completely made up): Group A: 99.9% of the population - lives paycheck to paycheck trying to support themselves and/or their families - Make a tradeoff every day of their freedom in order to be paid, and may have to make additional tradeoffs every day in order to keep their job. - The best they can hope for is to contribute to the cause of freedom however they can Group B: 0.1% of the population - has the money to make a difference in the world, whether by owning a business and employing people, contributing to non-profits, etc - Most people in this category and are trying to spend wisely to either make the most difference or grow their wealth, depending on their motivations - Most people in this category try to make money by catering to even richer clients. For example, a small business that makes software might be trying to sell it to a large oil company or healthcare provider Most people in group A are most concerned about getting the most for their money. They are already sacrificing some of their freedoms, so they are already trained to care about "gratis" more than "freedom". The people in this group who have the luxury of free time are the best candidates for being a contributor to free software. Unfortunately, many skilled people in group A who might otherwise be free software contributors also have demanding jobs, so they only get to contribute to free software if (1) they luck out, and (2) it helps them at work. Most people in group B value time over money. They will gladly pay in order to reduce the amount of time they have to spend on something. But people in group B didn't get into group B by being unwise with their money. They'll look for the lowest cost way to get what they want, and often that's a commercial off-the-shelf piece of software. Most people in group B ask the question "how can Free Software help me make more money and/or control my costs". The exception is people like Mark Shuttleworth, who have a vision and a passion for Free Software. So how do we convince people in group B to support free software, despite the fact that they may take a loss, and not be able to create a sustainable business around it? It's a big challenge. ;-) Mike -- Ubuntu-us-ca mailing list [email protected] Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-us-ca
