[Sussex] Distros

[Chris Jones]

Hi

On Mon, 4 April, 2005 9:50, Geoffrey J. Teale said:
> However, whilst we're on the subject, the argument that "for practical
> reason we need non-free software" is getting less and less valid as

In some areas, yes. E.g. the argument has been made pretty well now that
kernels and operating systems generally have no need to be closed and
proprietary. However that does not extend to the full gamut of software by
any means yet - for example the huge ISV market has, for the most part,
not yet been persuaded to port their wares to Linux and certainly hasn't
been persuaded that they should opensource anything. Given enough time we
will replace their works with our own free equivalents, but these things
take inordinate amounts of time and effort and you are perpetually chasing
the "innovators".

> time goes along.  The only real area in which non-free software is
> still a practical requirement is in driving a few pieces of hardware.

Or running well integrated banking software, or doing the things GIMP
can't manage yet, or editing a video, or... the list goes on and on.

> I deliberately exclude games from this equation, the home
> entertainment market, while interesting and glamourous is not really
> of any social value.

It's just worth an absolute fortune ;)

> By continuing to support non-free software, or at least not-actively
> opposing it, we in the west can create situations which exclude people

These international arguments are certainly very good and more morally
compelling than anything FSF related.
I am tempted though to argue that anything which prevents developing
nations being sucked into the same insane way of living we have in the
west could be considered a good thing ;)

> The value of a truly free distro is great (as Ututo is showing in
> Argentina) in it's own right, but as a reminder of the roots of the
> movement in which we are all involved it's worth a lot.  Neither RMS

Of course if FSF had managed to nail the Hurd developers down into
actually releasing some software at some point then they could have had
their own OS out there for ages now ;)

> or anyone else in the Free Software Foundation is a crackpot or

I think RMS is a crackpot, but a well-intentioned, useful crackpot :)

> rabidly anti-capitalist or any of the other name I've seen us called.
> We're simply a group of people who believe passionately that software
> is a tool to benefit humanity, not another bludgeon with which to

Perhaps this is the key difference here, I am not passionate about Free
Software specifically, it's just better generally so I like it when I can
use it ;)

Cheers,
-- 
Chris Jones
  cmsj at tenshu.net
   www.tenshu.net