press release critique

[Eneko Lacunza]

Hello josX!

 > Actually I'm a bit more extreme: it should be free as in speech
 > and it should be free as in beer too. Manny people don't have money,
 > so making it free as in beer is the only way to be shure it is
 > free as in speech too (so everybody can have it, use it, be enjoyed
 > by it.... not only those with too much money to blow).

    So, where's the problem?
    I *can* get Suse 6.4, that is sold for about 40 euros, and copy it any 
times I wish to anyone. It's the same for any other free software. No 
problem with being rich or not here.

 > This money-thing is a trojan horse. Don't let it in, or it will make
 > Linux just another bisnis-model with exploitation and everything that
 > entails, or it will make suits out of the old hackers.... remember
 > what happened to the hippies of the sixties? Now they ride BMW with
 > a boring tie and try to make as much money as possible.
 > Maybe we can make the FSFE more european by being more confrontational
 > (in philosophy) and less capitalistic, USA is the land of the
 > capitalists, we should not outdo them there I think.

    Well, I think that business making profit out of free software is good, 
becouse this means;
    a) They're spreading free software
    b) They're almost surely produce companion code that is also free.

    And you now? Once published, anyone can profit for that development for 
free, because as soon as the first very expensive copy is sold, his 
recipient can do free (as beer) copies!!! 8)

 > Let's go a step further: giving away for free is what makes it
 > so much fun to do. It makes you happy to give (wasn't "sharing
 > with your friends" what RMS called his `golden rule', that what
 > (face it) was the basis of it all (in it's current form)?

    Yes it very cool. But isn't it cool as well, working in a software 
factory in free software, knowing that someone is paying for your code 
(because he needs it) and that everyone will be able to use it? 8)

 > Maybe you can't earn your living with it... but, when was that
 > the goal, the goal was having fun, not make a coal-mine out of
 > it so we can live from it, devoid of the pleasure of making it
 > and giving it away.

    This is the good of free software. Unpaid volunteer work, paid work, all
go to the human being benefit, and GPL is suposed to protect any 
contribution to lead to something that doesn't contribute even more! 8)

 > This is not something I think up just now, it troubled me for longer
 > already. I just think this is pretty serious, and could in the long
 > run proove to be the end of us.

    I don't think so. AFAIS this is the start point of a greater revolution,
that some people name as "information revolution", but that is much wider 
than some expected; because it is best for all that anyone's effort is 
usable for anyone, the patent system not to exist, etc.

Regards,

Eneko Lacunza
Enlar/RgBa : Where all begins

... What is Linux? The power on your hands.

enlar at iname.com
http://www.euskalnet.net/enlar