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Free software isn't freeware: why Linux and FOSS have a higher standard
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| Microsoft's recent survey proclaimed nearly half the population believe it is
| ok to use pirated software for personal use. This diminishes the argument by
| Linux advocates that you can use their operating system without any cost.
| Yet, you can't confuse free as in cost with free as in freedom. Here's what
| FOSS really means.
|
| [...]
|
| Worse, when the company ceased it was no longer possible to get maintenance
| even if you agreed to the fee. So, when your current license period lapsed
| that was it; businesses had possibly years and years of important information
| which was plain and simply no longer accessible. Even though it was their own
| data.
|
| By stark contrast, if a FOSS program went belly-up you’d never be stuck. Your
| documents, your data, your information would be available forever because the
| specifications are always available – as encoded within the program source
| code.
|
| Once again, you don’t have to be a programmer for this to benefit you. You
| might be the CEO of a major business. However, you can find someone – even if
| you need to hire them – to help out. You can rest easy that your electronic
| data can always be opened if it has been stored in a FOSS file format.
|
| Remember, just because FOSS has the word “free” in it, it’s not the same as
| freeware. FOSS may not cost anything but it’s “free” in a broader sense. It’s
| free to use in any way you require. More than this, it’s free from risk.
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http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23097/1143/
Recent:
Freeware finder on a mission
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| A fierce critic of proprietary software introduced by companies like
| Microsoft and Apple, Stallman has been advocating use of free software like
| GNU Linux at various fora across the world for several years now. At a
| seminar organized by Indus Institute of Information Management (IIIM), he
| wondered aloud how sharing a program with a friend could be equated with the
| act of attacking a ship (piracy).
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Freeware_finder_on_a_mission/articleshow/3892994.cms
Related:
A Non-insider's Guide to Free and Open Source Software
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| Just like in your grocery-shopping, software choices matter. Most of the time
| (at least to my palate) conventionally-grown brocolli tastes the same as
| organically-grown brocolli, so why spend the extra money? I buy organic
| fruits and vegetables (when possible) because I know (or trust) that my body
| doesn't need the extra chemicals and pesticides that are used in conventional
| factory farming nowdays. Free and Open Source software are similar, in that
| you know that you can use conventional corporate software solutions with all
| of their caveats and insidious advertising, or your can use Free and Open
| Source software, which guarantee your freedoms to use and share it as you see
| fit, without any ulterior motive. You can argue that they "taste the same",
| but isn't an extra glance at the EULA worth the effort?
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http://sharplinux.blogspot.com/2008/07/non-insiders-guide-to-free-and-open.html
Debunking reasons not to open source indie freeware games
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| Make the smart decision, open source your freeware game. There is a good
| reason that those experienced with open source strongly advocate it's
| application. It works. It's not a miracle cure for a dying project though,
| so don't wait until you have already lost your way, strike whilst the iron
| is hot. It is never too early to open source your freeware game project!
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http://freegamer.blogspot.com/2007/06/debunking-reasons-not-to-open-source.html
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