Recently there have been numerous discussions on software and media piracy, with a few people even saying that open source could be the solution to stopping software piracy... However, software piracy is one of open source's biggest enemies, and few people realize that.
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Anybody up to writing good directory software?
Tue, 2007-02-20 11:17 — David JonathanSince the very beginning, directories (of any kind) have had a very central role in the internet. (I have recently grown fond of Free Web Directory. Even Slashdot can be considered a directory: a collection of great news and invaluable user-generated comments. As far as software is concerned, doing a quick search on Google about software directories will return the free (as in freedom) software directories like Savannah, SourceForge, Freshmeat and so on, followed by shareware and freeware sites such as FileBuzz, PCWin Download Center and All Freeware (great if you're looking for shareware and freeware, but definitely less comprehensive than their free-as-in-freedom counterparts).
Is better education the key to finding better software?
Sat, 2007-03-03 03:25 — Edward RusselI read David Jonathon's article Anybody Up To Writing Good Directory Software? the other day, which got me thinking about software directories in general. As David mentioned, many of the software directories one finds when doing a quick google search are free as in beer, not as in freedom. But what interests me is the software directories that already exist, providing a combination of both free as in beer software, and open source software. Sites such as Freeware Downloads and Shareware Download don't advertise themselves as providing free as in liberty software, but each of them have a good selection of open source software available... if you know where to look.
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kiba
3 years 42 weeks 18 hours 25 min ago
The BSA's effort to stamp
The BSA's effort to stamp out "piracy" of their software will give people incentive to move to free software.
So the more evil and draconian BSA's enforcement of copyright on their software, the more free software benefit.
It is just bad business to sue and piss off your own users.
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*Copyright creates monopolies. Copyleft promote the free market.
*"Monopoly corrupts. Absolute monopoly corrupts absolutely"-- http://againstmonopoly.org
trombonechamp
3 years 42 weeks 15 hours 20 min ago
Is this what we want?
While it is true that people may switch to FOSS for these reasons, they are switching for the wrong reason. These people would be switching for the practical benefit of cost. People who are looking for practical benefits will use the mp3 format, for example, because almost everything supports it.
In addition, it argues that DRM has a positive influence. The people who switch for practical benefits see nothing wrong with DRM; they just want to avoid it. Unfortunately for them, DRM isn't (legally) supported on Free Software. If they want to use the DRM-infested media, they have no choice but to use proprietary software. This is more like a lock-in than a technology to encourage people to use Free Software, which it argues against.
It just seems to me that this article is contradicting itself...
kiba
3 years 42 weeks 14 hours 24 min ago
The fact is, even though DRM
The fact is, even though DRM is a lockin solution, it can only lock people in for so long. Especially as more sophisticated competitors began to offer DRM less musics to undercut DRM-infested providers.
DRM doesn't create business opportunities, period. All it does is hurt everybody, including the music providers who mandated it in the first place.
The free software movement in the long run already win simply by not mandating such self-stabbing technologies.
-----Signature----
*Copyright creates monopolies. Copyleft promote the free market.
*"Monopoly corrupts. Absolute monopoly corrupts absolutely"-- http://againstmonopoly.org
trombonechamp
3 years 42 weeks 9 hours 58 min ago
While this is true, it
While this is true, it doesn't change the fact that DRM does indeed hurt Free Software.
People will purchase DRM'ed music if it is cheaper, or if there is a larger selection. DRM has to be the stupidest technology ever invented, as is won't even come close to preventing or even slowing the rate of music/video piracy. Big name companies seem to think it will, though.
Other technologies that act like DRM (for instance, how Vista forbids the recording certain TV shows) may encourage people to switch to Free Software, but DRM itself creates a reliance on proprietary software. It is not a true lockin, because you can still get music elsewhere. However, for the people who have a yearlong subscription to Napster, it comes pretty darn close.