[PD] Is open source better?

[Jonathan Wilkes]

On 02/10/2014 05:31 PM, Simon Wise wrote:
> On 11/02/14 04:40, Jonathan Wilkes wrote:
>
>> Unfortunately the open source definition was designed to subtly hide the
>> ethical reasons for doing open source development.  The reasoning for 
>> this
>> was quite straightforward-- "share with your neighbor" doesn't attract
>> business dollars.  So open source advocates focus on efficiency, like 
>> the
>> ability to plug a 3-clause BSD-licensed library into just about any 
>> device
>> you want, even a device that is locked down and requires the final 
>> app to be
>> proprietary.
>
> If you consider attracting business dollars actually spent on ongoing 
> development of open source code then the GPL, explicitly stating its 
> aims and with strict copyleft terms has been quite successful (not 
> denying that BSD, Apache and similar have also, in many cases) ....

That's true, but an open source advocate could still reframe that in 
terms of efficiency, cost-savings, etc., rather than freedom for the end 
user.  An open source advocate could even make the argument that the GPL 
actually gets in the way even for the most successful projects that are 
licensed with it, creating unnecessary bureaucracy and copyright 
sign-off requirements in what would otherwise be a post-license digital 
utopia.

I don't buy those arguments, but the point is that if there are enough 
voices framing everything in those terms then fundamental principles 
about user freedom get lost.  I mean, if I'd never heard much about 
freedom of the press then who knows if I'd find it reasonable to 
prosecute journalists who receive classified information and "sell" it 
to their publishers in the form of news. Instead, that sounds like 
tyranny to me.  And that's more likely due to a long line of teachers 
with the integrity to explain those principles than to living in a 
country licensed under the Constitution. :)

-Jonathan

>
>> If anyone wants to read a principled statement on user freedom, it's 
>> here:
>> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
>>
>> -Jonathan
>
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