My friend Joe Brockmeier has written what I think is a very important piece for Linux Magazine. He discusses the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as currently being the “Party of Gno”, and I think he makes some excellent points.
The FSF is the grandfather of free, libre, and open-source software (FLOSS) as we know it. Linux wouldn’t exist without it, nor would the GNU tools and utilities that form the basis of a heck of a large percentage of software, from embedded devices to desktop systems to large servers to clusters. By just about any measure, free software has succeeded wildly and continues to proliferate. How it mixes with the proprietary world, however, is sticky. Like the dividing layer between airmasses, one can always expect a little wind shear and turbulence in the boundary layer between open and closed systems. Linux copes with this boundary layer pragmatically through its licensing structure. The FSF, however, continues to rally and cry against closed software in general, as it has done for the past two and a half decades.
Lately, however, the FSF has been stepping up its negative campaigning by sponsoring sites like Defective by Design and Windows 7 Sins. I won’t link to them here because I completely agree with Joe that the mudslinging is actually more damaging to the FLOSS movement than the proprietary software itself is. The FSF is marginalizing themselves with this attitude. I think it comes directly from Richard Stallman (RMS). Don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for RMS – I have met him many times and I have a deep understanding of what he has provided with the world. However, I think Joe is right that it is time for RMS and the FSF to start interacting with the world as it is rather than as the fantasy it “should” be.
Like the grandfather it is, the FSF deserves to be listened to and respected, but sometimes its ideas are a little old and have been superseded by more modern thinking. Grandpa FSF, listen to your grandson Joe. And Joe – kudos for speaking up.
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June 17, 2010 at 6:29 am
Roberto Polli
Interesting point, even we should take care too on RMS words.
The cloud/saas is more a business model than a technology: and it is about lightening IT infrastructures.
The drawback is a concentration of knowledge/tech in some big hands, and maybe a way to close floss (modify a GPL2 sw and sell it aaS doesn’t require disclosure).
In that case big hands are needed to provide insurance in case of data loss (eg. Amazon S3). But anyway a SaaS solution needs a provider, and FSF can’t be one.
The reaction of FSF was the approval of the new AGPL-3 license: this requires saas providers to disclose floss software they use.
And I think it’s the way to follow.
June 17, 2010 at 7:53 am
Sonshine Penguin
Very well put. I read Joe’s article first and linked here. I agree with you both. Negativity is, well, negative, and has a negative influence on people. They don’t want to here complaining without a solution to solve the problem. I have been trying to get people to understand this for years. When I first got interested in Linux there was not much in the way of mainstream software to replace the proprietary applications that I used on the “other” OS. Now the amount of software available for Linux is astonishing.
Package managers are the only way to go, no stupid questions, no waiting for each app to start the install process for the next one, no reboot every time to make them all play nice with the system!
I am a graphic artist and I love GIMP and Inkscape. They did not cost my anything and I upgrade anytime I want, freely. The apps from the ‘mudhut’ graphics suite cost an arm, a leg, and a first born child, and you have pony up again and again for the upgrades.
I am glad someone is finally saying something positive. Let’s keep passing the word on and maybe the positive campaign will take off!