[pp.int.general] Why Free Software misses the point

[Radosław Nadstawny]

Dnia 2010-05-12, o godz. 23:08:34
Boris Turovskiy <tourovski at gmail.com> napisał(a):

> Ahoi,
> I've finally finished my critical article on Mr.Stallman's and the
> FSF's viewpoint. It may be of interest for Pirate Parties which have 
> difficulties with accepting FSF's philosophical reasoning while not 
> knowing what their answer should be.
> 
> http://wiki.piratenpartei.de/Benutzer:TurBor/Stellungsnahmen/Why_Free_Software_misses_the_point
> 
> Best regards,
> Boris
> ____________________________________________________
> Pirate Parties International - General Talk
> pp.international.general at lists.pirateweb.net
> http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general


I know what's the viewpoint of a casual user here - he/she wants a tool
to do the job and do it well, with minimal effort on user's side. It's
understandable and perfectly OK.

But consider the fact, that with most of proprietary software, you
can't really know, whether your tool, while performing its job, is not
secretly acting against you - e.g. spying on you. It's a matter of
trust - whether you trust your tools' providers enough.

The choice between proprietary and free software is often one between
convenience and security. These two almost never go together, so it's a
natural tradeoff. I can only hope that as free software's development
progresses, the only significant difference remaining between it and
proprietary software will be the one of security.

As for me, I don't trust corporations. They have no conscience, no
sense of guilt. Their sole purpose of existence is making money, by all
means they can get away with. History confirms it well. So, I prefer
using free software whenever possible.


Radek