Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 12:47:17 +0100 From: Mike Doyle <relyod@co-operation-ireland.ie> To: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Articles on the "Why" of OpenSource Software Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.20000915124717.0081c420@199.107.2.1>
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About an hour ago I looked for help to find articles on OpenSource for my Boss. Here's a copy of the stuff I sent to him. Eric S. Raymond --------------- http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/ The "Cathedral and the Bazaar" series of essays. Eric Raymond is regarded as a leading thinker in the OpenSource movement, especially by the "Linux" enthusiasts. His opinions on some areas (e.g. gun controll) might be regarded as a little strange by non-US residents. The Homepage of "OpenSource.org" -------------------------------- http://www.opensource.org/ The article "A business person's Case" at: http://www.opensource.org/for-suits.html The article "A techie/hacker's case" at: http://www.opensource.org/for-hackers.html (Note this is the Computer Science meaning of "Hacker" i.e. a good programmer, not the mass-media meaning of hacker i.e. one who breaks into computers) The FreeBSD Website. -------------------- (Co-operation Ireland uses FreeBSD on it's email/database server) The following paragraph is contained on the availablility page of the official FreeBSD website: >Where to get it. > > FreeBSD can be downloaded over the Internet for free, using a variety > of different protocols (FTP, CVS, AFS, and more). If bandwidth is expensive > for you then it can also be purchased on CDROM from a variety of vendors. The following paragraphs are a quote from the "Frequently Asked Questions" about FreeBSD >Q: What are the goals of FreeBSD? > > A: The goals of the FreeBSD Project are to provide software that may be used > for any purpose and without strings attached. Many of us have a significant > investment in the code (and project) and would certainly not mind a little > financial compensation now and then, but we're definitely not prepared to insist > on it. We believe that our first and foremost ``mission'' is to provide code > to any and all comers, and for whatever purpose, so that the code gets the > widest possible use and provides the widest possible benefit. > This is, we believe, one of the most fundamental goals of Free Software and > one that we enthusiastically support. > > That code in our source tree which falls under the GNU General Public License > (GPL) or GNU Library General Public License (LGPL) comes with slightly more > strings attached, though at least on the side of enforced access rather than > the usual opposite. Due to the additional complexities that can evolve in the > commercial use of GPL software, we do, however, endeavor to replace such > software with submissions under the more relaxed BSD copyright whenever possible. > >Q: Why is it called FreeBSD? > >A: > > - It may be used free of charge, even by commercial users. > - Full source for the operating system is freely available, and the > minimum possible restrictions have been placed upon its use, distribution > and incorporation into other work (commercial or non-commercial). > - Anyone who has an improvement and/or bug fix is free to submit their code > and have it added to the source tree (subject to one or two obvious provisos). > > For those of our readers whose first language is not English, it may be worth > pointing out that the word ``free'' is being used in two ways here, one meaning > ``at no cost'', the other meaning ``you can do whatever you like''. Apart from > one or two things you cannot do with the FreeBSD code, for example pretending > you wrote it, you really can do whatever you like with it. An article titled "The Ethics of Free Software" ----------------------------------------------- This is an article written in rebuttal of some of the more "extremist" views held by the Free Software foundation, and also attempting to show some of the percieved fallacies in ESR's writings (link above) http://www.sdmagazine.com/features/2000/03/f4.shtml The "Free Software Foundation" ("FSF") -------------------------------------- The FSF produced a lot of good free software, but they have a decidedly anti-commercial and anti-capitalist agenda. While much free software uses the licence model proposed by the FSF (The "GNU Licence"), many others including the BSD family of products, escew this licence in favour of a more "commercially friendly" licence. The FSF website is at: http://www.gnu.org/ Their "philosophy" page is at: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ <>< ============================================================ ><> Michael Doyle email: relyod@co-operation-ireland.ie Network Administrator personal email: relyod@indigo.ie Co-operation Ireland http://www.co-operation-ireland.ie/ Phone: +353-1-661 0588 Fax: +353-1-661 8456 ********************************************************************* To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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