[CS-FSLUG] The Moral Foundation of Free Software

[Don Parris]

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 11:20:40 -0800, groundhog3000
<groundhog3000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

<SNIP>
> 
> >>>The person who maintains the machine already knows how to do it, as
> >>>he's been doing it on his home machine for years.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>...using procedures which may be acceptable for a home machine
> >>without any really valuable data, but which are not adequate
> >>for maintaining a ministry's mission-critical computer system.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Ah.  You want a truly "production" quality system.  This is a problem that is
> >not solved by having an amateur sysadmin use a FOSS set of tools, but by hiring
> >a professional sysadmin to use the appropriate (which may or may not be FOSS)
> >tools for the job.  By hiring, I mean, "retaining the services of."  This might
> >be accomplished through a volunteer, if he's sufficiently dedicated to the job.
> >The point here is that if you want a professional-quality job, get a
> >professional.  Let HIM choose his tools.
> >
> >
> There is some merit to the facts of the situation here.  An average home
> user couldn't run
> either a M$ IIS or Apache.  They can use M$ office (which makes them an
> M$ specialist
> or some other big word that means very little) and they can use a few
> other apps that are
> necessary for their chosen profession.  All in all they can use software
> and know little
> about the actual OS they are running on.  I've done the secretary thing
> and know all about
> what the 'average' worker can and cannot do.
> 
> When introduced to Linux via KDE or Gnome, it's, "Oh look, what is this
> software?" and
> not , ''Hey! This is a new OS! Cool!"  In my experience, with a similar
> interface, and I have
> tested this with family and friends, a user will quickly catch onto the
> way things work.
> 
> In my opinion the real decider isn't the OS, but the software needed for
> the job and
> the platform the software is available on.  Until someone makes software
> for industry
> x or industry y, those industries will continue to use M$ and that is that.

This makes more sense than a lot of what has been said.  I can
honestly understand a church using legitimate copies of proprietary
software if there are no FOSS alternatives that fit their needs.  It
makes, sense to me, if the church is using ACS as their management
app, to stick with it as long as no FOSS alternatives exist to replace
it.  That said, this point is beginning - slowly, but surely - to
erode to the point of becoming moot. :)

DCP
-- 
DC Parris GNU Evangelist
http://matheteuo.org/
gnumathetes at gmail.com
Free software is like God's love - 
you can share it with anyone anywhere anytime!