Re: [fsf-community-team] A first exercise

[Julian Pierce]

excerpt:

One way to determine whether a program is really free is its use of the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License (GPL). The GNU GPL stipulates that the software can be used, copied, and distributed verbatim without limitation, though it cannot be changed. While you can usually get the source code of programs that adhere to the GNU GPL, the license differs somewhat from open-source software.

response:

You are correct, the Open Source license is different than the GPL; however, the difference you stipulate is incorrect. The GPL does, in fact, allow source code changes. See GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007 second paragraph of the preamble. In fact, one of the driving forces behind the founding of the Free Software Foundation was to allow, even encourage, improvement of programs by altering the source code.

excerpt:

sourceforge provides the most comprehensive collection of open-source software for Windows, Linux, and other operating systems. The programs listed on the site are often poorly documented and may be labeled as "projects," so you may not want to pin your business's success on one of them.

In fact, you'll often find more complete reviews of the programs listed on sourceforge by searching for them on Download.com. For example, here's the sourceforge entry for the KeePass Password Safe password-management freeware, and the product's entry on Download.com.

response:

Just a friendly reminder, Linux is a kernel that is an integral part of the GNU/Linux operating system. I am not sure what you mean by freeware. In the 1980's and early '90s the term was used to refer to no fee programs released as executables only. Today it has no particular agreed-on definition. This may seem a bit picky, but technically windows are displays that pop up in GUIs to allow access to desired programs. For example, the program you are using to display this email is inside a window. I think you meant to write Microsoft Windows.

The reason sourceforge refers to programs as projects is inherent in the open source philosophy, that of continual improvement, via a community effort. On that note, it would be inappropriate for Download.com to refer to proprietary programs as projects.

I am not sure how to respond to your assertion about sourceforge providing inadequate documentation; however, the last time I checked there were 1,747 reviews on the souceforge site, 201 of which were negative. I also noticed a "project feed" section, which shows items such as project updates, ticket activity, documents, code comments, etc. I saw nothing of the sort on Download.com. Of course, you know that, considering Download is owned by CNET. (maybe a bit too crufty)

excerpt:

Whose bandwidth is it, anyway?
My biggest beef with software vendors—whether they charge for their products or not—is their cavalier attitude toward our system resources. Microsoft ties up our PCs every second Tuesday of the month with multimegabyte Windows updates. But a more recent example is Apple's latest iTunes and QuickTime update, which comes in at a whopping 101.2MB download. Apple, Microsoft, and other software vendors repeatedly expect me to put my workday on hold and turn my system over to their monster updates.

I think you are a prime candidate for a GNU/Linux OS. There are several GNU alternatives to iTunes and QuickTime that will not eat up your resources. If only iTunes and QuickTime were licensed under GPL, the FSF community could take them on as projects and then modify and improve them!

excerpt:

Many antivirus and other security programs let you use them for free but request a donation—sometimes repeatedly. For example, InformAction's popular NoScript add-on for Firefox opens a page after each update that solicits donations.

Again GNU/Linux is your solution, viruses are much less a problem for us.

Side Notes:

1. After some education on FSF and based on his complaints about proprietary software, I believe Dennis O'Reilly could become an FSF convert.

2. There is no GNU or FSF tag on his blog.

3. Maybe we should develop a questionnaire which will determine whether one's thinking leans toward proprietary, open source or FSF philosophies.