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On Mon, May 08, 2006 at 06:19:44PM +0200 Francesco Pietra said:
> On Monday 08 May 2006 18:34, A J Stiles wrote:
> > On Monday 08 May 2006 15:46, Francesco Pietra wrote:
> > > However, there is scientific proprietary software from small
> > > softwarehouses that has decades of experience and development, is sold
> > > with accompanying source code, and solves problems that debian is quite
> > > far from solving. Again, don't ask me the names because I am not
> > > advertising (and I am user not softwarehouse) but I believe that such
> > > softwarehouses deserve full support. They have my support.
> >
> > There is an important distinction between software like this {the
> > traditional model, dating back to the days when Source Code was the only
> > thing any two systems might have in common}, and proprietary,
> > closed-source software which is distributed as a binary executable only
> > {and requires a homogeneous execution environment; something which has only
> > really become possible recently with the dominance of the 80%86
> > architecture and Windows}. It's not Free software because it can't be
> > distributed freely; but at least the vendor respects the purchaser's right
> > to inspect and modify the Source Code
>
> I would like to intervene again about the last paragraph. I read your
> statemente "It's not Free software... but at least.." as placing Free
> Software at a a higher (socially higher) level than Proprietary Software
> (meant in the terms I specified above). If I read correctly, I disagree. I
> disagree because that Proprietary Software allows me to do reseach work that
> I could not otherwise carry out. The inventor who built the softwarehouse
> lives from his invention and from his constant improvement of the product
> (which generally is, how you could easily imagine, small business). Would you
> not agree to support him? He does great service to the society. (again I
> declare not to have any commercial involvment with any software house,
> although from time to time i helped to improve the product by using it, while
> I never claimed to get that acknowledged because I live from chemical
> research).
Do you really believe that a business is set up for any other purpose
than to make money? The person running the business may create good
products but that is a matter of his/her own business practices; for
every good product there are 99 card-sharpers.
When it comes to software and hardware, businesses try to get and keep
your business using lock-in. Period. That their software and hardware
does what you need is purely incidental.
Having spent the last two days trying to source a laptop for my teenaged
daughter, I can tell you that I have about had it with the manufacturers
and the way they literally force you to buy what they have on display.
They can do this because apart from the drive and the memory, everything
else is built according to their own "design." If the laptop had been
commoditised the way the PC is, there would be an entirely different
situation.
Free software does not lock you in because the standards are open.
Sam
- --
Sam Varghese
http://www.gnubies.com
The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from
it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.
My PGP key: http://www.gnubies.com/encryption/sign.txt
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