[pp.int.general] Significance of use of Free and proprietary software in a political context

[Will Pomes]

pardon me for the low level analysis, and for intruding where I may not be
warranted in doing so, but isn't free software that is not free, just open
source. or if you mean free as in $, then i would direct you to rms' many
offerings on the subject.

On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 9:48 AM, Ray Jenson <ray.jenson at gmail.com> wrote:

> Richard M Stallman wrote:
>
>>    Personally, I think that it's perfectly healthy to have competition
>>  between Free and proprietary software,
>>
>> To speak of competition between freedom and subjugation is to assume
>> subjugation is morally acceptable.
>>
>>
> This is the classic problem between the concept for free vs. freedom... one
> connotes price, the other connotes choice. I think it's healthy to have
> competition between free (price) software and for-pay software; I think it's
> reprehensible to prevent healthy competition by hiding custom code from
> others. It doesn't create a competitive atmosphere, it creates an atmosphere
> of contention.
>
> I agree with rms in that proprietary software is subjugation of a computer;
> however, I disagree that free software always connotes freedom (as implied
> by the response). Free software (as in freedom) is not always free. There
> isn't a high degree of moral acceptability for subjugated software if your
> aim is to free people from the idea that they have to protect their work.
>
> What we do have to protect is the attribution. This means that software
> should never have a patent, and should be protected under copyright, as with
> any written work. It's not enough to simply eliminate the patent for
> software; we have to ensure that people have a say in how they are
> attributed, and if they are attributed at all. It's equally reprehensible to
> take credit for something you didn't do.
>
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