Re: [Fsuk-manchester] the non-free neighbour asking for help dilemma

[Paul Waring]

On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 11:50:17PM +0100, Tim Dobson wrote:
> Why do you prefer free software over non-free software?

Because if there's a bug in the program or I want a feature added, I can
fix it myself or (if there's a sufficient business case for doing so)
pay someone else to do it. I use free software for technical reasons,
not moral or ethical ones - e.g. until about a year ago I worked mainly
under Windows XP, because it was technically superior (largely in terms
of being able to actually support my hardware) to Linux. Now Ubuntu has
passed XP, so I use that instead because I can get more work done. I
don't use free software because I think it's better for society.

Oh, and the 'free as in beer' part can be a deciding factor, so given
the choice of two equal pieces of software, I will use the "free" one
(but then that includes freeware and open source products, neither of
which may be 'free software').

Paul

-- 
Paul Waring
http://www.pwaring.com