Free software movement: Difference between revisions
→Measures of progress: Ohloh, a web service founded in 2004 and launched in 2006, monitors the development activity in the free software community, providing detailed [[Software metric |
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The two most prominent people attached to the movement, [[Richard Stallman]] and [[Linus Torvalds]], have deep philosophical differences. This has fueled many dramatic news articles, but has not prevented Stallman from using Torvalds's [[Linux kernel|kernel]] or Torvalds from using Stallman's [[GNU General Public License]]. |
The two most prominent people attached to the movement, [[Richard Stallman]] and [[Linus Torvalds]], have deep philosophical differences. This has fueled many dramatic news articles, but has not prevented Stallman from using Torvalds's [[Linux kernel|kernel]] or Torvalds from using Stallman's [[GNU General Public License]]. |
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==Measures of progress== |
==Measures of progress== |
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The amount of free software that has been published has been measured in many ways. Possibly the first large-scale measurement were those of [[David A. Wheeler]], culminating in his paper "''More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size''"<ref>{{cite web |
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[[Ohloh]], a [[web service]] founded in 2004 and launched in 2006, monitors the development activity in the [[free software community]], providing detailed [[Software metric|metrics]] and [[quantitative analysis|quantitative analyses]] on the growth and popularity of projects and [[programming language]]s. |
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|url=http://www.dwheeler.com/sloc/redhat71-v1/redhat71sloc.html |
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|title=More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size |
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}}</ref> Using the [[COCOMO]] cost model, in 2001, Wheeler estimated the then most popular GNU/Linux distribution, would have cost over $1billion and would take 8,000 man-years. |
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[[Ohloh]], a [[web service]] founded in 2004 and launched in 2006, monitors the growth, popularity, and [[programming language]] use of free software projects. |
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==Criticism and controversy== |
==Criticism and controversy== |
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Revision as of 01:19, 31 January 2008
The free software movement is a new social movement which aims to protect the rights of users to access and modify software. Although drawing on traditions and philosophies among members of the 1970s hacker culture, Richard Stallman is widely credited with launching the movement in 1983 by founding the GNU Project.[1]
The free software philosophy at the core of the movement drew on core and incidental elements of what was called hacker culture by many computer users in the 70s, among other sources.
Philosophy
Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation in 1985 to support the movement. The philosophy of the movement is to give freedom to computer users by replacing proprietary software under restrictive licensing terms with free software,[2] with the ultimate goal of liberating everyone in cyberspace.[3]
Members of the free software movement believe that all users of software should have the freedoms listed in the free software definition. Many hold that it is immoral to prohibit or prevent people from exercising these freedoms and that these freedoms are required to create a decent society where software users can help each other, and to have control over their computers.[4]
Some adherents to the free software movement do not believe that proprietary software is strictly immoral.[5] They argue freedom is valuable (both socially and pragmatically) as a property of software in its own right, separate from technical quality in a narrow sense.
The free software movement also believes all software needs free documentation, but does not take a strong position on other types of works.[6] Members of the free software movement advocate works that serve a practical purpose should also be free.
Actions
Writing and spreading free software
The initial work of the free software movement focussed on software development.
The free software movement also rejects proprietary software, refusing to install software that does not give them the freedoms of free software. According to Stallman, "The only thing in the software field that is worse than an unauthorised copy of a proprietary program, is an authorised copy of the proprietary program because this does the same harm to its whole community of users, and in addition, usually the developer, the perpetrator of this evil, profits from it."[7]
Building awareness
Some supporters of the free software movement take up public speaking, or host a stall at software-related conferences to raise awareness of software freedom. This is seen as important since people who receive free software, but who aren't aware that it is free software, will later accept a non-free replacement or will add software which is not free software. [8]
Legislation
Political acts include campaigning against software patents and expansions of copyright law.
Venezuelan government, implemented a free software law in January 2006. Decree No. 3,390 mandated all government agencies to migrate to free software over a two-year period.[9]
Congressmen Dr Edgar David Villanueva and Jacques Rodrich Ackerman have been instrumental in introducing in Republic of Peru bill 1609 on "Free Software in Public Administration".[10]
The incident immediately invited the attention of Microsoft Inc, Peru, whose General Manager wrote a letter to Dr Edgar David Villanueva. Dr Edgar's response received worldwide attention and is still seen as a classical piece of argumentation favouring use of Free Software in Governments.[11]
Internal conflict
Like many social movements, the free software movement has ongoing internal conflict between personalities and between supporters of compromise versus strict adherence to values.
Open source
In 1998, some companies met to create a marketing campaign for free software which would focus on technology rather than ethics. After this Eric Raymond and Bruce Perens, founded Open Source Initiative OSI, which promotes the term "open-source software" as an alternative term for free software. OSI does not agree with the free software movement's position that non-free software is a social problem or that it is unethical.[12]
OSI advocates free software (under the name "open-source software") on the basis that it is a superior model for software development rather than it being a social or ethical issue.[13]
Stallman and Torvalds
The two most prominent people attached to the movement, Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds, have deep philosophical differences. This has fueled many dramatic news articles, but has not prevented Stallman from using Torvalds's kernel or Torvalds from using Stallman's GNU General Public License.
Measures of progress
The amount of free software that has been published has been measured in many ways. Possibly the first large-scale measurement were those of David A. Wheeler, culminating in his paper "More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size"[14] Using the COCOMO cost model, in 2001, Wheeler estimated the then most popular GNU/Linux distribution, would have cost over $1billion and would take 8,000 man-years.
Ohloh, a web service founded in 2004 and launched in 2006, monitors the growth, popularity, and programming language use of free software projects.
Criticism and controversy
Who defines "free"?
Some people only consider Public Domain as free, and thus do not consiter the "Free Software Movement" as free.
Is something impeding progress?
Some, such as Eric Raymond, criticise the speed at which the free software movement is progressing, suggesting that temporary compromises should be made for short-term gains. Raymond argues that this could raise awareness of the software and thus increase the free software movements influence on relevent standards and legislation.[15]
Others, such as Richard Stallman, see the current level of compromise to be the bigger worry.[16][17]
See also
- Free Software Foundation
- Hacker culture
- Open Source Initiative
- GNU Manifesto
- Free Culture Movement
- Free software community
- GNU/Linux adoption
- High Priority Free Software Projects
External links
- What is Free Software? - Essay by Karl Fogel.
- The Free Software Movement and the Future of Freedom, a lecture by Richard Stallman
- Free Software Movement intro by FSF
- The GNU Project Philosophy Directory, containing many defining documents of the free software movement
- An interview with Stallman, "Free Software as a social movement"
- Christian Imhorst, Anarchy and Source Code - What does the Free Software Movement have to do with Anarchism?, (licence: GFDL), 2005
- Template:Es iconSoftware libre en la administración pública, Free software in public administration, from Spanish Wikipedia
- An anti-DRM campaign - by Bill Xu and Richard Stallman
- GNUCHILE Foundation
References
- ^ "Announcement of the GNU project".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Use Free Software". gnu.org.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Stallman interviewed by Sean Daly". Groklaw. 2006-06-23.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Why free software?". gnu.org.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Copyleft: Pragmatic Idealism". gnu.org.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Free Software and Free Manuals". gnu.org.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Transcript of Stallman on Free Software". FSFE. 2006-03-09.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Transcript of Stallman speaking at WSIS". Ciaran O'Riordan.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Free software liberates Venezuela". Free Software Magazine n°10. 2006-02-08.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "An English translation of the Free Software bill proposed in Peru".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Peruvian Congressmean Edgar Villanueva writing to Microsoft about free software".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ [1]
- ^ "Open Source misses the point". gnu.org.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size".
- ^ "ESR's "World Domination 201", on the need for more compromise by the free software movement".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "RMS on the progress of the movement and his worry about compromise".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Richard Stallman on "World Domination 201"".
I cannot agree to that compromise, and my experience teaches me that it won't be temporary. ... What our community needs most is more spine in rejection of non-free software. It has far too much willingness to compromise. ... To "argue" in favor of adding non-free software in GNU/Linux distros is almost superfluous, since that's what nearly all of them have already done.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|quote=at position 69 (help)