Re: Article for comment

Shouldn't this be better on plug-misc?

On Mon, 2005-11-28 at 21:10 +0800, Dominique Cimafranca wrote:
> Hi, all,
> 
> Wrote this up for a publication.  Thought it might be useful to some
> folks, so I'm posting it here.  Please do send in your comments.
> Thanks.
> 
> --Dom
> 
> 
> 
> Why You Should Care About Open Source
> 
> To many people, open source is synonymous with free software.  Therein
> lies the trouble.  While the two sometimes coincide, it is not always
> the case.  Sometimes, you have free software that is not open source;
> and sometimes, you have open source software that is not free.
> 
> Confused?  Let's try to clear things up, starting with the word
> "free."  There are two meanings to "free" when referring to software.
> The first, and probably the more common, refers to zero-cost.
> Appropriately, this is the term that applies to freeware, whatever
> platform they may run on.  The second meaning is less common and
> relates to freedom.  
> 
> Ah, but freedom to do what? And why do we need this in the first
> place?
> 
> Most software today is governed by licenses that permit the user to do
> certain things while restricting others.  So, for example, a Microsoft
> Windows license will legally let you run the operating system on only
> one computer, and not on another.  It does not allow you to give it
> away to another person nor to take it apart and study what makes it
> work from the inside.
> 
> In contrast, an open source license, as defined by the Open Source
> Consortium, will allow you four fundamental freedoms: (1) the freedom
> to run the program for any purpose; (2) the freedom to study the
> program; (3) the freedom to improve the program; and (4) the freedom
> to distribute the program. The human-readable source code is
> fundamental to the last three freedoms, and therefore, access to it is
> a precondition for open source software.  Hence, the term "open
> source."
> 
> Now, some of you might exclaim: "What does that have to do with me?
> I'm not a programmer.  I just want to use nice software that's free or
> available at a reasonable price."
> 
> It might help if we take a step back and tackle it by way of a
> commonplace analogy: cookies.  Not the kind that goes into your web
> browser, but the kind that's yummy and gets all crumbly when you eat
> it.
> 
> Let's say that in the course of your gastronomical experiments, you've
> hit upon a wonderful new recipe for a cookie.  It's so good that
> everyone who's tasted it wants more.  So what do you do?  You have two
> options before you.
> 
> One: you could keep the cookie recipe a secret, bake the cookies
> yourself, sell your product, and make a nice profit out of your
> labors.  You can price the cookies as high as you want because no one
> else is able to make them quite like you do.
> 
> Or two: you could give out the cookie recipe so that other people can
> bake their own cookies.  You can still sell your cookies, but now
> other people can even sell them in competition to you.  They are free
> to make improvements on your recipe with the precondition that they
> also give away those improved recipes.  In turn, you can also make and
> sell cookies based on these recipe variations.
> 
> Which option is right and which option is wrong?  Well, neither,
> really.  You're free to do as you choose, depending on the
> circumstances. 
> 
> If you take the first path, you will be able to sell more cookies, and
> that's a good thing.  On the downside, there isn't going to be as much
> variety on the market and after a while your recipe could get, well,
> stale.  And who's to say that somewhere down the line there won't be
> someone else who can match your cookie recipe?
> 
> If you take the second path, you won't get to sell as much as when you
> had a monopoly, and that might not be so good for you financially.
> But there'll be more cookie recipes out in the market, some of which
> may be even better than your original and which you can bake for
> yourself.  And overall, the prices of cookies will be lower because
> many more people can make them (and you might even choose to buy from
> someone else who can bake them better).  
> 
> The analogies should be obvious enough: cookies stand for software,
> and the cookie recipe is the source code.  While it's alright to keep
> the source code for yourself -- and there may be good reason for doing
> so --  it opens up a whole avenue of wonderful possibilities if you
> open it up.  
> 
> Now, put yourself in another role.  Say that you don't bake cookies
> yourself, but you do like to eat them.  As a dedicated cookie
> connoisseur, Which of the two situations above do you think would be
> better for you?  Again, it's alright to buy from someone with a secret
> recipe, wouldn't it be better to create an environment where you get
> more variety and at lower prices?
> 
> The same analogy can hold for software as well.  This is the promise
> that open source presents: more variety, and at more affordable
> prices.
> 
> So you see, that's why, even if you're not a developer, open source
> ought to mean something to you.  And even if you are just a user, try
> to find some means of contributing to open source: using the software,
> reporting bugs, and getting other people to use it.
> 
> _________________________________________________________
> Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Newbie Mailing List
> [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph)
> Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists
> Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
-- 
eman
http://www.bloodpet.tk/ || http://www.bloodpet.dsl.ph/
gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 4C683E4C
Registered Linux User #287022
+63(2)455-3222
Books just wanna be FREE!
See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com/friend/bloodpet

_________________________________________________________
Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Newbie Mailing List
[email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph)
Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists
Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQBDixd0LVRiw0xoPkwRAhALAJ4nX5PGZyZpV8OXDiNYXbU14kXSywCfVwhY
ol1ZENW+u+8+QL9Y1u0FGPE=
=vfzd
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----