>> I thought MySQL was open source, doesn't sound open and free to me.
[snip]
>Sorry Mr. Stallman, but that's what happens in a "gift economy" when
>programmers are the only ones gifting while landlords and grocers still
>expect to be paid. ;)
MySQL is open source and free, but it is just that the position of the free software
movement is more complex than it appears.
Stallman is more interested in the idea that software is free as in "unchained" ('free
speech' not 'free beer'), and Stallman is not even opposed to people charging money
for "fred" software:
"'Free software' does not mean 'non-commercial'. A free program must be available for
commercial use, commercial development, and commercial distribution."
(http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)
"Actually we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they
wish or can. "
(http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/philosophy/selling.html)
"Except for one special situation, the GNU General Public License (20k characters)
(GNU GPL) has no requirements about how much you can charge for distributing a copy of
free software. You can charge nothing, a penny, a dollar, or a billion dollars. "
(http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html)
I don't believe he is contradictory. His position is quite subtle.
And I'm sure that a programmer of his massive ability with a different philosophical
position would be massively richer than Stallman.
Some Linux people object to calling it "GNU/Linux", but there is quite a strong case
for him and his project being given that credit. This is the position followed by
Debian, one of the most highly-respected GNU/Linux distributions.
Regards,
Bernard
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