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I've just attended a lecture by Richard Stallman about the dangers of software patenting. He is one of the founder members of the GNU and FSF organisation. But in his talk he kind of said that he is against open source. Isn't open source synonymous with free software? I mean... when you mean "free", does it mean free source or free to use? I would have asked him but he had to rush off and didn't entertain too many questions.
RMS (Stallman) is really focused on the political and morral issues..
The philosophy behind GNU and FSF.
http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
Most OpenSource stuff just wants to be free..
Also the GNU is a more restrictive licence then most other OpenSource licences (on commercial use).
Also don't ever say Linux to RMS.. that's GNU/Linux buddy :p
You're right about that :D. He started his lecture saying that he was associated with "GNU OS" otherwise known as Linux.
Thanks for the link. But i'm still confused:
:confused:Quote:
"Free software" and "open source" describe the same category of software, more or less, but say different things about the software, and about values. The GNU Project continues to use the term "free software", to express the idea that freedom, not just technology, is important.
also:
"open source shuns the ideas of freedom,community and principle"?Quote:
Some who favored this term aimed to avoid the confusion of "free" with "gratis"--a valid goal. Others, however, aimed to set aside the spirit of principle that had motivated the free software movement and the GNU project, and to appeal instead to executives and business users, many of whom hold an ideology that places profit above freedom, above community, above principle. Thus, the rhetoric of "open source" focuses on the potential to make high quality, powerful software, but shuns the ideas of freedom, community, and principle.
Why does everything have dual meanings?
For most of the rest of us, "free software" and "open source"
are synonymous. RMS didn't like the term "open source"
because it is too "neutral" and not radical enough for his taste.
It's a tempest in a teapot. He's just being hysterical.
http://www.catb.org/%7Eesr/Licensing%2DHOWTO.html#FAQs
:cool: