Free software and a better society
Most of the people think that Free Source Software does not make any economic sense and hence will not be adopted by corporations. (Well actually FSS does make economic sense to RedHat, Novell, IBM and likes but that apart). People who have pride in being "Practicle" and always look the economical aspect first, here is my go.
Making Economic sense should not be the 1st priority. This was illustrated by an incident in Mumbai last week. It makes great economic sense getting hold of small kids aged 10-12 and make them work for 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week .....till they die, without paying them a single rupee. You can also save a few more rupees by cutting down the expenses on food. Some of the kids were sold by their parents due to poverty. Since there is demand and supply, and the whole business is profitable to everyone (except the poor kid), there should be no problem with this right?
WRONG!!!
We should respect something called ethics/morals. And how does FSS relates to ethics? GO here to know about it . It is all about building a better society. That is where Free source software movement differs from Open source movement. I urge everyone reading this blog to read the links on the GNU site and be educated about the philosophy behind it. I am sure everybody wants a good society for our children, dont we? Use free software not because it is free as in free beer, or because it is technically superior, but because it is free as in free speech. All other reasons to adopt it are added bonus.
Most of the people think that Free Source Software does not make any economic sense and hence will not be adopted by corporations. (Well actually FSS does make economic sense to RedHat, Novell, IBM and likes but that apart). People who have pride in being "Practicle" and always look the economical aspect first, here is my go.
Making Economic sense should not be the 1st priority. This was illustrated by an incident in Mumbai last week. It makes great economic sense getting hold of small kids aged 10-12 and make them work for 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week .....till they die, without paying them a single rupee. You can also save a few more rupees by cutting down the expenses on food. Some of the kids were sold by their parents due to poverty. Since there is demand and supply, and the whole business is profitable to everyone (except the poor kid), there should be no problem with this right?
WRONG!!!
We should respect something called ethics/morals. And how does FSS relates to ethics? GO here to know about it . It is all about building a better society. That is where Free source software movement differs from Open source movement. I urge everyone reading this blog to read the links on the GNU site and be educated about the philosophy behind it. I am sure everybody wants a good society for our children, dont we? Use free software not because it is free as in free beer, or because it is technically superior, but because it is free as in free speech. All other reasons to adopt it are added bonus.
posted by Aseem Rane at
10:06 AM
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