Free Software / Open source concepts

[Michel Roche]

Le 15 févr. 08 à 21:28, Matthias-Christian Ott a écrit :

> So what's the new perspective?

I understand that Bogdan felt a difference in the presentation of the  
two approaches.

Open Source movement, if opensource.org is representative of it, is  
driven by a way of developping software as it is stated in the first  
sentence of their website : "Open source is a development method for  
software (...)"
The Free Software freedoms are not claimed for their philosophy, and  
respect to the user, but presented as an efficient way to develop good  
software.
It's relying extensively on the fact that communities exist around  
sofware in order for them to live, and wa could maybe say that the  
movement is driven by those communities.
Nothing in what has been said having to be taken as a negative  
judgment about Open Source Initiative, but merely a statement.

On any gnu site, you'll be told about those fundamental freedoms given  
(back) to the user.

Even if in the end these all boil down to the four primary freedoms,  
the two give us different approaches, and even philosophical point of  
view, of Free Software.

If in my opinion I'd stick to the GNU philosophy, I have to admit that  
the pragmatic approach of OSI ensures a better penetration in the  
world of business. As Free Software are really growing at the moment,  
it's not that unusual to see different styles poping up, by the way  
showing that it's beeing appropriated by different and new people,  
eventually philosophically far from the original idea.
It's a kind of natural consequence of the spreading of an idea which  
we could also observe in other areas.

So Bogdan, if you want to advocate and spread Free Software around  
you, I think the best way is yours whatever it is if it fit both you  
and your audience ! Sounds like a zen stanza :-)
The only things that you'll always have to repeat are those four  
freedoms to educate people understand that the 'free' as in beer can  
only be possible because of the 'Free' as in speech, which is the most  
important notion.

Free Software can be developped by a single one, but they often live  
better when supported by an active community after.

Michel Roche