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It's hard to take this article seriously when it starts out with stuff like "A nonfree program denies users freedom, which is unjust in itself." If you don't wa

by whack 10y ago

It's hard to take this article seriously when it starts out with stuff like "A nonfree program denies users freedom, which is unjust in itself." If you don't want to use Skype, I can respect that. But to accuse the developers of moral failure just because they didn't make their software free... That is an absurd view of morality.

uiri 10y ago
The author is Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation. He has spent the last 30 years trying to rid the world of proprietary software; first by working on free alternatives in the form of GNU and later through his activism work. The Open Source movement grew out of a group of pro-Free Software people who felt that Stallman's morality-based arguments were ineffective at convincing businesses to switch to FOSS. Modern internet companies and countless startups would not exist were it not for Stallman's initial efforts over 30 years ago and his "absurd" view of morality.
- whack 10y ago
  Your entire comment is a reverse ad hominem. Just because Richard Stallman did a lot of great things doesn't make his view of morality any less absurd. There's nothing unjust about a Software company choosing to develop and market "non-free" Software.
jjawssd 10y ago
Could Skype have been be monetized effectively if it was open source?
- jimktrains2 10y ago
  Yes? Telecom infrastructure can be costly. Many people use skype for international POTS calling.
jimktrains2 10y ago
> But to accuse the developers of moral failure just because they didn't make their software free... That is an absurd view of morality. Why? It's as reasonable as saying they have a moral failing when they've failed according to my moral view in any other case.
elviejo 10y ago
when RMS uses the term, he means Free as in Freedom not as in free beer. What he means by that is software that allows their users to: use it, study, modify and share it. He doesn't mean price. If skype would charge a million dollars but still provided those 4 freedoms RMS wouldn't have a problem with it. That philosophy has brought the world Linux, Apache, WebKit, LibreOffice, Ruby, PHP, MySQL, MongoDB and many other GPL software.... and has obivously influenced the creation of Open Source that althoug are similar in practice their underlying philosophy is different.

by whack 10y ago

uiri 10y ago

The author is Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation. He has spent the last 30 years trying to rid the world of proprietary software; first by working on free alternatives in the form of GNU and later through his activism work. The Open Source movement grew out of a group of pro-Free Software people who felt that Stallman's morality-based arguments were ineffective at convincing businesses to switch to FOSS. Modern internet companies and countless startups would not exist were it not for Stallman's initial efforts over 30 years ago and his "absurd" view of morality.

whack 10y ago
Your entire comment is a reverse ad hominem. Just because Richard Stallman did a lot of great things doesn't make his view of morality any less absurd. There's nothing unjust about a Software company choosing to develop and market "non-free" Software.

jjawssd 10y ago

Could Skype have been be monetized effectively if it was open source?

jimktrains2 10y ago
Yes? Telecom infrastructure can be costly. Many people use skype for international POTS calling.

jimktrains2 10y ago

> But to accuse the developers of moral failure just because they didn't make their software free... That is an absurd view of morality. Why? It's as reasonable as saying they have a moral failing when they've failed according to my moral view in any other case.

elviejo 10y ago

when RMS uses the term, he means Free as in Freedom not as in free beer. What he means by that is software that allows their users to: use it, study, modify and share it. He doesn't mean price. If skype would charge a million dollars but still provided those 4 freedoms RMS wouldn't have a problem with it. That philosophy has brought the world Linux, Apache, WebKit, LibreOffice, Ruby, PHP, MySQL, MongoDB and many other GPL software.... and has obivously influenced the creation of Open Source that althoug are similar in practice their underlying philosophy is different.