3 ms·

I don't mean to be zealous, but I'll be honest. Why don't research organizations and international conventions have strict policies of using only free (as in fr

I don't mean to be zealous, but I'll be honest. Why don't research organizations and international conventions have strict policies of using only free (as in freedom) software? I think this is a cautionary tale right here of why it's important. The licensing pitfalls of violating proprietary terms are so much higher stake.

masklinn 11y ago
> Why don't research organizations and international conventions have strict policies of using only free (as in freedom) software? What are they to do when no such "free software" package exists? Stop research? Spend years trying to build one when there's a known industrial package available off the shelf?
- vezzy-fnord 11y ago
  Isn't that already the reality for plenty of commercial enterprises, where certain licenses are avoided like the plague? Licensing is an unfortunate form of yak shaving that everyone must get around. Considering the alternative is conducting research on top of intrinsically obscurantist proprietary software, the trade-off might well be worth it.
  - danielweber 11y ago
    There are adults who want to get their job done and don't care about your feelings about free software. 30K is chump change as far as CERN's software budget is concerned and is not going to make them give up on commercial software. Also, because I can anticipate the response: just because 30K is not worth giving up on commercial software, it doesn't mean they shouldn't try to fix the user fuckup that cost them 30K.
    - vezzy-fnord 11y ago
      The only one invoking "feelings" here is you alone, and it implies to me you're the one who is most susceptible to them here. If you have some vendetta against free software, then leave it out for now. The question of how one reconciles obscurantist practices with the scientific method remains open.

3 ms·

I don't mean to be zealous, but I'll be honest. Why don't research organizations and international conventions have strict policies of using only free (as in fr

by vezzy-fnord 11y ago

masklinn 11y ago
> Why don't research organizations and international conventions have strict policies of using only free (as in freedom) software? What are they to do when no such "free software" package exists? Stop research? Spend years trying to build one when there's a known industrial package available off the shelf?
- vezzy-fnord 11y ago
  Isn't that already the reality for plenty of commercial enterprises, where certain licenses are avoided like the plague? Licensing is an unfortunate form of yak shaving that everyone must get around. Considering the alternative is conducting research on top of intrinsically obscurantist proprietary software, the trade-off might well be worth it.
  - danielweber 11y ago
    There are adults who want to get their job done and don't care about your feelings about free software. 30K is chump change as far as CERN's software budget is concerned and is not going to make them give up on commercial software. Also, because I can anticipate the response: just because 30K is not worth giving up on commercial software, it doesn't mean they shouldn't try to fix the user fuckup that cost them 30K.
    - vezzy-fnord 11y ago
      The only one invoking "feelings" here is you alone, and it implies to me you're the one who is most susceptible to them here. If you have some vendetta against free software, then leave it out for now. The question of how one reconciles obscurantist practices with the scientific method remains open.