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

[Andrew Norton]

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sent this to rms direct, instead of the list, silly me

- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [pp.int.general] Why Free Software misses the point
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 16:53:37 -0400
From: Andrew Norton <ktetch at gmail.com>
To: rms at gnu.org

On 5/13/2010 4:11 PM, Richard Stallman wrote:
> With software, there are two possibilities.  With free software, the
> users control the software.  With proprietary software, the software
> controls the users, which means the owner controls the users.
>
> Non-programmer users do get the benefit of the four freedoms in making
> free software have the features they want.  However, since you brought
> up the issue of things so bad that users might sue the developers
> about them, let's focus on that.
>
> With proprietary software, blind trust in the program's owner
> is imposed on the user.
>
> With free software, the basic option is to trust a community of people
> who check each others' work.  This is like science: not perfect, but
> no better way to find the truth is known.

TRust a community of people who MAY have checked each others work.
UNLESS they, like everyone else, assumed someone else would do it. And
those that have checked it, apparently don't look at the code, but
instead use other pieces of code to check it.

If that community says it's safe, and it isn't, what recourse do I have
for trusting them? None. The only hope is that *someone* spots the bad
before it harms anything. If it has though, too bad.

If people would actually start taking legal responsibility for checking
and certifying free software, that would be a HUGE positive step
forward. No-one will though, because no-one a) wants to check, and b) be
put on the hook for other peoples actions.

Thats the crux. No-one wants the responsibility.

Andrew

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