[Liverpool] OtherOS-on-Linux or Linux-on-OtherOS? was "Multi-Boot Query"

[Simon Johnson]

> Why should we chastise people for choice, a abillity we hold so highly
> in the FOSS community. If people want to use close source OS and apps,
> so be it. How do we have the right to dictate to people?
>
>
I write .NET code on Windows machines for my day job, I write Python at home
on Linux and I run Symbian on my mobile etc. I'd probably have a Mac if I
wasn't paying for a wedding :)

The reason I use free software at home is not because of any political
conviction but because I think free software has a more vibrant community
(Could you imagine a Windows User Group?). Moreover, I think that free
software is more programmer friendly and higher quality than most closed
source software. The best arguments for free software have always been
technical, not political.

A certain element of the free software movement rail against copyright
because they think it restricts freedom. However, this is quite an ironic
position. You see, copyright is *about* freedom. If copyright did not exist
there would be nothing to stop Microsoft lifting code from the Linux kernel
and shipping it in their product. The GPL *requires* the existence of
copyright in order to prevent this.

I believe in these freedoms:

   1. An author should be free to release code under any license they
   choose.
   2. An author should be able to control the distribution of derivative
   works.
   3. A user should be able to choose which software they want to use.

I actually think the existing set-up we have with copyright works quite
well. It provides enough flexibility to allow the Microsoft's of the world
to co-exist with GNU. Without the first two freedoms in my list, neither
Microsoft or GNU could exist. It's pretty impressive that two diametrically
opposed organisations can rely on the same legal principles for their
existance.

I don't think the end-game of the free software movement should be to end
closed source software. They are part of the software ecology just as much
as GNU/Linux. Our goal should be promote free software as a platform for
furthering the development of the computer revolution.

Kind Regards,

Simon Johnson
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