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"Bob Young" <BYoung@××××××××××.com> posted |
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FAEEIJPAOFEMBBLKPMJEAEHIHKAA.BYoung@××××××××××.com, excerpted below, on |
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Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:03:25 -0700: |
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|
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>> From: Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. [mailto:bss03@××××××××××.net] |
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>> |
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>> "Bob Young" <BYoung@××××××××××.com> wrote: |
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>> > That's not freedom, they are still completely dependent on the |
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>> > mechanic they take the car to. |
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>> |
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>> No, they aren't. They can use another mechanic. Instead of having to |
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>> consult *one particular entity* they can consult *any entity of a |
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>> particular class*. They gain a choice, which means they have more |
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>> freedom. |
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> |
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> That's almost entirely a theoretical difference, in the real world this |
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> "freedom" is actually exercised very little if at all. I'm sure there |
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> are exceptions occasionally, but the fact is, the vast majority of OSS |
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> users who can't read/write source code, will never once in their entire |
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> life, contract with a third party to modify an app/driver/utility that |
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> they have the source code for. |
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The vast majority of users, perhaps, but it's the exercise of this freedom |
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is now a MAJOR factor, perhaps now THE major factor, in further FLOSS |
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development. How many companies and even government agencies now pay |
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developers to full-time or part-time work on FLOSS projects they are |
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interested in? That's /very/ /much/ "hiring their own mechanic", even if |
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it's the original mechanic. |
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-- |
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Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
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"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- |
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and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman |
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-- |
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