132 lines
4.4 KiB
HTML
132 lines
4.4 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?>
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>FSF Europe - Why we speak about Free Software</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>We speak about Free Software</h1>
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<p>Free Software is often referred to as "Open Source." This is a
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result of an attempt by the <a href="http://www.opensource.org/">Open
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Source Initiative</a> (OSI) to create a marketing campaign for Free
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Software.</p>
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<p>The OSI set out to maintain the integrity of the movement and
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prevent abuse by proprietary vendors by introducing "Open Source" as a
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trademark for Free Software; but this initiative failed.</p>
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<p>Examining the development of the Open Source Initiative after three
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years, it becomes apparent that the reasons to prefer the term Free
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Software have become even more true. Speaking of Free Software or the
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equivalent term in other languages offers many advantages, which we
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explain below.</p>
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<h3>"Free Software" is easier to understand</h3>
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<p>Although some people say that using the term "free" creates
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ambiguity, many languages have separate terms referring to freedom and
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price. In these languages, the term "free" is not ambiguous. It may be
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in others, including English, but in those misunderstandings can
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easily be avoided by pointing out that free refers to freedom, not
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price.</p>
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<p>The terminology "Open Source" refers to having access to the source
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code. But access to the source code is only a precondition for two of
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the four freedoms that define Free Software. Many people do not
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understand that access to the source code alone is not enough. "Free
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Software" avoids catering to this relatively common misunderstanding.</p>
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<h3>Free Software is harder to abuse</h3>
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<p>Unfortunately many companies have started calling their products
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"Open Source" if at least some parts of the source code can be
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seen. Users buy this software believing they are purchasing something
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"as good as GNU/Linux" because it claims to follow the same
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principle.</p>
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<p>We should not allow proprietary vendors to abuse people's enthusiasm
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like this. Since the "Open Source" trademarking initiative failed,
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there is no way to prevent abuse of the term that becomes possible
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because of the aforementioned misunderstanding.</p>
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<h3>Free Software is well-defined</h3>
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<p>Experience in science and philosophy has shown that a good and
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clear definition is to be preferred.</p>
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<p>The Free Software Definition of the Free Software Foundation with
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its four freedoms is the clearest definition existing today.</p>
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<h3>Free Software provides additional value</h3>
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<p>Unlike Open Source, Free Software provides more than just a
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technical model how to develop better software, it provides a
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philosophy. Companies can learn and profit from the philosophy and
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background of Free Software.</p>
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<h3>Free Software offers freedom</h3>
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<p>Free Software provides the freedoms to </p>
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<ul>
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<li>run the program, for any purpose.</li>
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<li>study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.</li>
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<li>redistribute copies.</li>
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<li>improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Because of these four freedoms, Free Software offers freedom to
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learn, freedom to teach, freedom of competition, freedom of speech and
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freedom of choice.</p>
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<p>Freedom counts!</p>
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<p>For all these reasons we made the conscious decision to avoid the term
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Open Source and speak of Free Software or the equivalent term in other
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languages.</p>
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<p>We encourage you to make the same decision.</p>
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<p>An initiative of the<br />
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Free Software Foundation Europe</p>
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<p>If you also speak about Free Software and would like to know how to
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participate in the campaign or how to support it, you will find
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information <a href="whyfs-howto.en.html">here</a>.</p>
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<hr />
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<h2>We speak about Free Software</h2>
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</body>
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<footer>
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<br />
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<p>This campaign was started for Free Software companies, but in this
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special case we decided to make an exception to the rule:</p><p class="indent">
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<a href="http://perens.com/">Bruce Perens</a>, co-founder of the Open
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Source movement and author of the "Debian Free Software
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Guidelines" and the "Open Source Definition" asked us
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to add his name to the list and make it known that he also speaks
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about Free Software and supports the "We speak about Free
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Software" campaign.</p>
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</footer>
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<timestamp>$Date$ $Author$</timestamp>
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</html>
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