Dzisiaj trafiłem jednak interesujący post, umieszczony na blogu Finding Lisp, w którym autor opisuje swoje refleksje po spotkaniu z Richardem M. Stallmanem - założycielem i przewodniczącym Free Software Foundation. Przytoczę kilka cytatów, bo one świetnie odnoszą się do tego co osobiście sądzę o Open Source i Free Software. Przepraszam, że po angielsku, ale nie chce mi się tego tłumaczyć.
Richard's contention is that all the userland for Linux came from GNU and thus Linux is really just the kernel while the whole OS should be called "GNU/Linux." Whether that is true or not, the fact is, Linus built his own operating system and he should have the right to name it. If Free Software is truly as Free as Richard wants to claim it is, naming should be one of the things where the Freedom shows. Put another way, I have no issue if the FSF and GNU want to put out their own Linux distribution and name it "GNU/Linux," or even just "The GNU System," that's fine. I have big problems with Richard trying to convince me that I would tack "GNU" onto the front of "Linux" for some reason. I would worry that at any time Richard might claim that the use of GPL code might warrant changing the name of your application to "GNU/Foo."
I like open source and believe there are certain advantages to it, I specifically reject Richard's moral basis for Free Software. Richard tries to portray access to source code and redistribution for no charge as abstract moral rights that every person should have, something akin to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Using proprietary software, Richard says, is to make an immoral choice. I don't buy it.
I don't think most of the developers or users of software see a philosophical, moral argument to made with respect to closed software.
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