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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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aboutblank
4 years 16 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago
The freedom we refer to when
The freedom we refer to when we talk about free software allows us to control our own computers and cooperate within a community. Proprietary software does not allow us the liberty to do these things; we do not consider ourselves to be free if we choose to accept any of it. Open source philosophy places less emphasis on software freedom. Proponents of open source teaches that it is acceptable to not demand freedom if it is convenient to do so.
crimperman
4 years 16 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago
Save yourself the bother
This phrase sums up this article:
"Concerning the finality, Open Source and Free Software allows a user to be free. And Open source will take over Free Software because much more efficient economically."
So the premise of the whole piece is that OSS will succeed over free software because businesses "like" OSS. Neatly missing the point that "open source" is not much more than a marketing term for free software.
"Isn’t a user freer to install and use much more programs on SuSE Linux (Open Source) than on Debian Linux (Free Sofware) ? Couldn’t SuSE be freer because easier to use ? Isn’t a user freer to work on MS applications on Windows (closed) than on Linux (FLOSS) ? The answer is yes, even so the reason is clear."
Apart from the myth that SuSE is easier to use, this is just plain wrong. Freedom is not necessarily related to ease of use. Ease of use is perception-based, freedom is not. You may perceive you have freedom of speech but in certain countries you do not have it. Similarly you may think you do not are free to distribute a copy of Microsoft Office - you are not (unless you have a licence to do so). A user may find a certain application easier to use but that does not mean they are free to do what they want with what it produces.
Example?: A friend of mine is a music teacher, he composes and arranges music as well. DRM restricted hardware and software is starting to prevent him from transferring copies of his _own_ works from home to his workplace. Why did he use those tools to create the works? Because they were "easy to use".
Kin Calvin
4 years 16 weeks 5 days 16 hours ago
Freedom(s)
Hi Ryan,
"Freedom is not necessarily related to ease of us"
If a user in unable to use a software, there is no software. So even if this software is Free, Freedom will not be brought to user.
Anyhow, I do understand the sence of Free Software, we are talking about Freedom of viewing the code, diffusing. This article does mistunderstand Free Software.
But what kind of Freedom the public is looking for ?
I am not telling what I would like see happening (what could be future); I am telling what is happening (the path future is taking) :
- First, users do not no how to read code, so free code will never interest them.
- Second, users do not care about laws, either a software is free or not, they can read it and diffuse it. Lets take an example: Some GNU/Linux distributions are Free Software and with no cost, but they can get Windows for free too, that's what they see.
I know it is a serious issue, I agree proprietary do not bring freedom to user. But how can you bring freedom to somebody that do not know what Freedom is.
aboutblank
4 years 16 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago
> If a user in unable to use
> If a user in unable to use a software, there is no software. So even if this software is Free, Freedom will not be brought to user.
A computer program (also known as computer software) is a set of instructions designed to make the computer do something useful. The user should demand that the program be changed if the program is no longer useful.
> First, users do not no how to read code, so free code will never interest them.
The user can hire a computer programmer to read code.
> Second, users do not care about laws, either a software is free or not, they can read it and diffuse it. Lets take an example: Some GNU/Linux distributions are Free Software and with no cost, but they can get Windows for free too, that's what they see.
That's right. They live in a world where they are not taught the ideals of free software.
> But how can you bring freedom to somebody that do not know what Freedom is.
Somebody has to teach the user what is freedom. But before we can teach freedom, we must first understand it ourselves.