Re: Free Software vs. Librous Software

Dexter Filmore wrote:

>>For example, Richard Stallman urges people to support the
>>Free Software philosophy *instead* of supporting the Open
>>Source philosophy. Obviously he considers the difference
>>between "Free Software" and "Open Source" to be
>>
>yaddayaddayadda.
>
>Does it matter?
>
>Somebody tell me how an open src project could not be free as in free beer?
>

I don't think the difference between Free Software (or as I call it,
"Liberous Software") and Open Source lies in the software itself, or
in the terms by which the software is licensed. Rather, the
difference lies in the *motive* for releasing the software as such.
The "Free Software philosophy" and the "Open Source philosophy" both
justify the same action, only that the one deals with it on ethical
grounds, while the other doesn't touch ethics and instead justifies
the very same action on pragmatic grounds.

To understand what I'm talking about, contrast the writings of
Richard Stallman with those of Linus Torvald. And I believe Eric
Raymond is somewhere in-between the two.