[CS-FSLUG] The Moral Foundation of Free Software

[Bradly McConnell]

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 19:01:28 -0500, Don Parris <gnumathetes at gmail.com> wrote:

> My personal point of view is that proprietary software licenses
> promote love of self, not neighbor.  If you knew just how hefty a fee
> the Free Software Foundation charges for free software, it would be
> little wonder that Stallman looks so well-fed in his pictures.  I

I'm not sure what you mean above - if you go to the fsf.org site, you
can download any of the source that you want.  That $5000 package is
more of a "service" and contribution than purchasing the software. 
They will custom compile everything for you, and you are buying
documentation, t-shirts, etc.  The details about it are at:
http://www.gnu.org/order/deluxe.html

> could, according to the GPL, charge a fee for CHADDB, for tech
> support, for on-site setups, etc.

True, but also, once that person has the source, they can do what they
wish with it.  What really may be in order would be a modified GPL
type license, specifically dedicated to not charging, but may be
freely distributed - I think there are similar licenses, but I'm not
sure which ones.  If you were to work as a "contractor" type, and not
perform the services as a ministry, then I could see charging for the
tech support and on-site setup - allowing FOSS to provide for your
monetary needs.  It's just like Redhat - before the FC split - the OS
without support for free, but support is pay service - I think that is
similar to what Suse/Novell is doing, is it not?

> The notion that you can't feed your family developing FOSS is utterly
> ridiculous.

I agree - there are still many companies that would pay for an in
house developer to develop software for open source - they are still
gaining the benefit of having the software to use, while it can still
be shared.  That can roll into the whole "Intellectual Property"
issue, but I think it would still work, as long as both parties
understand what "open-source" means.  Take for example the big
financial corporation (can't remember which one - J.P. Morgan, I
believe) that elected to use Linux/Open Source solutions - I'm sure
those IT people are able to feed their family.

Brad