therning.org/ magnus

I’m not a Debian Developer, so the recent Firefox/Icedove debacle hasn’t caught my attention that much. Basically I trust Debian to do the right thing. It seems in this case they are, again, doing the right thing.

GNOME’s Dave Neary says it’s ill-advised of Mozilla to care more about practicality and usability than freedom. He’s right! I read a few of the comments, and as so often people (i.e. users) say that freedom only matters to developers. That is simply not true! Please think about it! How does the freedom in source empower you to do what you want to do?

I’ve heard a few stories of people who are switching from Windows to Linux, but who can’t make a total switch because of iTunes. Since iTunes is closed (and defective by design) they have no choice but to keep Windows around in order to access the music they’ve bought. (It’s also higly ironical that Apple has written a program that keeps people using Windows.)

Consider what might happen if the Linux kernel accepted closed-source drivers.

Also, if you do care about freedom, then read this. Maybe it’ll help you in making others understand why free is better for you.

I just received a funny link in an email. Apparently M$ is now into free software. Well, it’s actually not free as in free speech, but rather free as in free beer. Just wonderful how they are taking advantage of the ambiguous English language…

Here’s the link, you have to use a non-M$ browser to “enjoy it” (I’ve only tested it with Mozilla-based browsers).

The United Nations has recommended its members use open source software, particularly in areas related to health, education and international commerce, UN inspector Dominique Ouredrago said during a speech at the II international open source conference in Spain.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/02/20/1389065.htm

Now this is good, right?

Well, I’m not sure it’s good enough. I’m not convinced the difference between open source and free software is understood within the UN. What they should recommend is use of free software.

Second, until there is unambiguous patenting laws prohibiting patents on software in the major markets in the world there is a threat looming over open source and free software. Will the UN address this issue as well?