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[fsf-community-team] introduction email


From: Florian Purucker
Subject: [fsf-community-team] introduction email
Date: Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:22:22 +0100
User-agent: Host Europe Webmailer/2.0

Dear list,

My name is Florian and I am from Germany. Therefore, I follow many German
news sites like Heise online (in some way the German /.) and Golem.de
(another IT news site), but also English ones like /.. Those are the ones I
visit on a daily basis, but there are many more that I visit occasionally;
too many to list here. Maybe I could focus on something relating to my
primary news sources? I am generally curious, though, so I am open to any
suggestions.
I think this new project is interesting, because it intends to organize
something I have been doing on a casual level anyway. I hope this project
will help to increase awareness about common misconceptions; I feel that it
is often just a not so carefully chosen word that can cause a lot of
confusion and by increasing awareness about this issue, this confusion can
be avoided easily.

I read all the listed articles months/years ago (since I am a member and
have a copy of "Free Software, Free Society" at home), but just to be on
the safe side, I went back and read them again just a few minutes ago.

Here are the excerpts you wanted us to respond to:
1) Please do not use the term "open source" in connection with the Free
Software Foundation. While both terms "free software" and "open source"
have similar practical results, the underlying philosophy is fundamentally
different. While "free software" is about promoting the freedom of computer
users, "open source" is a development model that focuses on practical
advantages of that specific type of software development rather than on
freedom. So please do not use the two terms as synonyms.
Also, the term "Linux" as a name for the operating system is confusing.
Linux is a kernel that Linus Torvalds started developing in the early
1990s. The GNU project was started in 1983 by Richard Stallman as a free
(as in freedom) replacement of Unix. At the beginning of the 1990s, the GNU
operating system was almost complete, except for a kernel. Some people
decided to use the Linux kernel, since it is also free software, and
combined the two to form a complete operating system. The resulting system
is a GNU system with a Linux kernel and should thus be called "GNU/Linux"
(pronounced GNU slash Linux) or "GNU+Linux". By calling the system
GNU/Linux, people will be referred to the underlying principles of the GNU
project, while the term Linux would refer them to open source, because
Linux and Linus Torvalds are usually associated with open source.

2) Please do not use the word "Linux" to describe the free (as in freedom)
operating system GNU/Linux. The operating system you are talking about is
actually the GNU system with Linux added as the kernel. Please give the GNU
project credit by calling the operating system "GNU/Linux" (pronounced GNU
slash Linux) or "GNU+Linux". This way, users will be referred to the
principles and ideas of the GNU project; Linux alone is usually associated
with a different philosophy.
Furthermore, there are problems with applications like Adobe Flash and
Skype; they are proprietary software. Free software is all about
maintaining computer user's freedom. Skype and Adobe Flash are proprietary
and use proprietary protocols and file formats to force other users to use
those non-free applications as well. By using them, we undermine software
user's freedom, so we should avoid them. This is also why having
proprietary software available for the free GNU/Linux operating system is
not an advantage for a system that is about software freedom.

3) Please do not use the term "intellectual property", because it is
confusing. "Intellectual property" is used to lump together several
different laws that deal with copyright, trademarks, and patents. By using
this term, it is not clear what you are writing about. So please be clear
and state whether you are writing about copyright or patents. Moreover,
there is no such thing as intellectual property. Property is used to
describe physical objects that can be used by only one person at a time and
sharing is often difficult; things that are copyrighted, trademarked, or
patented can be shared easily, however. Those things are ideas and if I
share an idea with you, we both can use the idea, so it is inherently
different from physical objects and thus, the term "intellectual property"
should be avoided to prevent confusion.


Ok, I hope those answers were not too long. I am looking forward to
receiving your input.

Sincerely,
Florian 





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