This is the first in what I hope will be a series of interviews with major GNU/Linux distribution lead developers. This interview is with Clement Lefebvre the lead developer of Linux Mint and he talks with me about his project, development, the community, and his views on free vs open source software.
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Jimbob
16 years 29 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago
So he's trying to sit on the fence
So he's trying to sit on the fence in regard to free software vs Open Source... but really he thinks that the GPL "forces" people to do things.
Why is that so many people find the idea of enforcing freedom a restriction?... Because they want to make money out of other peoples' creations even if it is against the creator's wishes.
When I create things I want everyone to benefit. And that means no one should be able to prevent anyone from benefiting from my creation. The GPL does that. Thanks RMS.
I so wish people would stop sucking up to Torvalds in regard to his ill-informed political/philosophical position.
aboutblank
16 years 29 weeks 4 days 12 hours ago
The freedom that RMS refers to
The freedom that RMS refers to is //the user's right to control their own computer// and //the user's right to help other people through sharing software//. Free software is defined in such a way as to allow us to help ourselves (freedoms 0 and 1) and allow us to help others (freedoms 2 and 3).
Non-free software prevents us from :
1) controlling our own computer
Without the right to access the code, we have little control over what the program does to our computer. Without the right to run modifications to the code, we have lose the liberty to control our own computer.
2) helping other people and being good neighbours
Without the right to share software, we cannot be good neighbours. Computer programs are tools that perform tasks. A good neighbour shares his tools with other neighbours. If a neighbour finds a use for a program, we should be allowed to share it with them. Computer programs are digital information. Because of the nature of digital information, it is trivial to make duplicates of sotware. If the software author chooses to prevent users from sharing their software, society loses as society is deprived of the right to be good neighbours. Without the right to share software, we are forced to break the law in order to be good neighbours.
And this is why we refer to non-free software as evil. We lose our liberty to control our own machines and the liberty to help other people.