What is free sftware really? Was: RE: Article: "Fixing linux" - opinions?

MJ Ray mjr at phonecoop.coop
Fri Dec 19 12:38:12 UTC 2008


Noah Slater <nslater at tumbolia.org> wrote:
> Free software is a political movement, open source is a pragmatic method.
>
> Comparing the two is quite absurd, and yet so very common.

Differentiating between politics and pragmatism is also absurd and
common.  I'm involved in local politics (as a village councillor)
precisely because it's pragmatic, even to the point of the public
sector paying for things that other groups *should* fund (but don't),
when it's practical for us to do it and tax other groups accordingly.

Similarly, I'm involved in free software mainly because it's
pragmatic, allowing autonomy over computer use.

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef)
Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small
worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/
(Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237



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