this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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lol...
that's just some dumb take. Some software can and should be free (operating systems, for example) but all software? lol
You like your free Android kernel? How about your free browser. Or MF'er, do you like this lemmy shit that you're using?!?!?!? What about all the network architecture so you don't have to pay dozens of owners so that you can send a packet of data from your the open-source router software to the Linux server that is hosting your game.
Make no mistake Microsoft has been at war with open source since its business model requires people to pay for software. It would destroy open source if it could, it it probably will after it acquires enough enough market share.
MF is your choice of term to open discussion with someone on a topic you disagree on? Surely this is going to get your audience to be open to accept your views/input.
Edit: the discussion likely is about your use case of the term free
Weird way to avoid the Epstein island, charter school proponent, weird bullshit in Africa guy, literally at war with open source guy discussion.
Hey I'm sorry that I made an abbreviation for a naughty word.
I'm assuming uralsolo is talking about free software as in, software which gives users the four freedoms.
I don't think all software needs to be free, but in some ways, it's no longer the issue of the day. In this day and age, a lot of what we're using is no longer really software. We're using services with client-side Javascript which is nominally free software (but not really). Most of the actual software is sitting behind a server. I see this as good and bad. It means users of less popular operating systems get access to the same services as users of popular operating systems so long as they have browsers, and the negatives are, well...I'm sure you don't need my help to think of some.
It's hard to make money with free software because everyone has the right to commercially exploit it. For this reason alone, I don't think it's necessary for all software to be free, but I'll be there to celebrate the programs that are free.
Why should software be free?
The qeustion would rather be, why shouldn't software be free? Because there is no good reason it shouldn't be.
So people who create it can afford to live?
I forgot not everyone knows what free software means. Free as in freedom not free as in gratis. The other one has good, even great reasons for existing as you've said people need to pay the bills. The first one does not.
TIL of GNU's philosophical take on "free software". Thanks!
Though, it was quite a hassle to find amidst all the other search results for "free software"... π
Maybe we should use "libre" to differentiate the 2, like GNU points out.
Yeah, the english language has a problem with that. But not just English!
Polish does too, the translation would be "Wolne oprogramowanie". However wolne can be understood both as free and... Slow.
Yeah, slow software lmao
If you'd like to know more about software freedom checkout the Free Software Foundation, Software Freedom Conservancy, of course the GNU project and some Linux youtubers like Distrotube and the like.
This definition of "free" in the context of software is used only in specific circles. It's confusing for everyone else and another word should be used.
libre is one word that is already popular
Perhaps if we built a world in which no one needed to worry about necessities, it would not be even excusable to charge money for commodities?
Trading card boosters are literally analogue loot boxes targeted at children and for some reason everyone is just fine with them.