June 06, 2006, 22:59
RMS on Free Software vs. Open Source
This quote from RMS really brought the issue of the terms Free Software and Open Source to my attention.
It really gave me a better understanding. Or more so it was the culmination of what I had come to realize.
So if you imagine two people, one who
is convinced by the Open Source philosophy and another who is convinced
by the Free Software philosophy. And you show these people a powerful,
reliable, convenient, non-free program. What are they going to say ?
The Open Source guy would say - "I am surprised you were able to do such a good job without letting the users study the code and find the bugs for you. But I can argue with the facts. It seems a powerful and reliable program". And he will probably use it. Where as the Free Software person will say - "I don't care how powerful and convenient it is if it takes away my freedom. I wouldn't pay such a high price for that convenience. I am going to get to work on a free replacement for this program right away before anybody else get tempted to use that program".
From here.
