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diff --git a/src/frontend_blog/articles/scrap1_12.html b/src/frontend_blog/articles/scrap1_12.html new file mode 100644 index 00000000..50ee4b6e --- /dev/null +++ b/src/frontend_blog/articles/scrap1_12.html @@ -0,0 +1,287 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/loose.dtd"> +<html> +<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. + +Free Software Foundation + +51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor + +Boston, MA 02110-1335 +Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. +Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted +worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is +preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations +of this book from the original English into another language provided +the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and +the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all +copies. + +ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9 +Cover design by Rob Myers. + +Cover photograph by Peter Hinely. + --> +<!-- Created on February 18, 2016 by texi2html 1.82 +texi2html was written by: + Lionel Cons <Lionel.Cons@cern.ch> (original author) + Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> + Olaf Bachmann <obachman@mathematik.uni-kl.de> + and many others. +Maintained by: Many creative people. +Send bugs and suggestions to <texi2html-bug@nongnu.org> +--> +<head> +<title>Free Software, Free Society, 2nd ed.: 12. What's in a Name?</title> + +<meta name="description" content="This is the second edition of Richard Stallman's collection of essays."> +<meta name="keywords" content="Free Software, Free Society, 2nd ed.: 12. What's in a Name?"> +<meta name="resource-type" content="document"> +<meta name="distribution" content="global"> +<meta name="Generator" content="texi2html 1.82"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +a.summary-letter {text-decoration: none} +blockquote.smallquotation {font-size: smaller} +pre.display {font-family: serif} +pre.format {font-family: serif} +pre.menu-comment {font-family: serif} +pre.menu-preformatted {font-family: serif} +pre.smalldisplay {font-family: serif; font-size: smaller} +pre.smallexample {font-size: smaller} +pre.smallformat {font-family: serif; font-size: smaller} +pre.smalllisp {font-size: smaller} +span.roman {font-family:serif; font-weight:normal;} +span.sansserif {font-family:sans-serif; font-weight:normal;} +ul.toc {list-style: none} +--> +</style> +<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../style.css"> + + +</head> + +<body lang="en" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#800080" alink="#FF0000"> + +<a name="Whats-Name"></a> +<header><div id="logo"><img src="../gnu.svg" height="100" width="100"></div><h1>Free Software, Free Society, 2nd ed.</h1></header><section id="main"><a name="What_0027s-in-a-Name_003f"></a> +<h1 class="chapter"> 12. What’s in a Name? </h1> + +<a name="index-nonfree-software_002c-insidious-and-nefarious-addition-of"></a> +<a name="index-terminology_002c-importance-of-using-correct-1"></a> +<a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-Project-5"></a> +<a name="index-_0060_0060Linux_002c_0027_0027-erroneous-use-of-term-_0028see-also-open-source_0029-1"></a> +<a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU_002fLinux-v_002e-_0060_0060Linux_0027_0027-_0028see-also-both-open-source-and-terminology_0029"></a> +<a name="index-GNU_002fLinux-v_002e-_0060_0060Linux_0027_0027-_0028see-also-both-open-source-and-terminology_0029"></a> + +<p>Names convey meanings; our choice of names determines the meaning of +what we say. An inappropriate name gives people the wrong idea. A +rose by any other name would smell as sweet—but if you call it a pen, +people will be rather disappointed when they try to write with it. +And if you call pens “roses,” people may not realize what +they are good for. If you call our operating system +Linux, that conveys a mistaken idea of the system’s +origin, history, and purpose. If you call +it GNU/Linux, that conveys (though not in detail) an accurate idea. +</p> +<p>Does this really matter for our community? Is it important whether people +know the system’s origin, history, and purpose? Yes—because people +who forget history are often condemned to repeat it. The Free World +that has developed around GNU/Linux +is not guaranteed to survive; the problems that +led us to develop GNU are not completely eradicated, and they threaten +to come back. +</p> + +<p>When I explain why it’s appropriate to call the operating system +GNU/Linux rather than Linux, people +sometimes respond this way: +</p> +<blockquote class="smallquotation"> +<p> Granted that the GNU Project deserves credit for this work, is + it really worth a fuss when people don’t give credit? Isn’t the + important thing that the job was done, not who did it? You + ought to relax, take pride in the job well done, and not worry + about the credit. +</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This would be wise advice, if only the situation were like that—if +the job were done and it were time to relax. If only that were true! +But challenges abound, and this is no time to take the future for +granted. Our community’s strength rests on commitment to freedom and +cooperation. Using the name GNU/Linux is a way for people to remind +themselves and inform others of these goals. +</p> + +<p>It is possible to write good free software without thinking of GNU; +much good work has been done in the name of Linux also. But the term +“Linux” has been associated ever since it was first coined +with a philosophy that does not make a commitment to the freedom to +cooperate. As the name is increasingly used by business, we will +have even more trouble making it connect with community spirit. +</p> +<a name="index-developers_002c-proprietary-software-1"></a> +<a name="index-traps_002c-_0060_0060Linux_0027_0027-distribution-companies"></a> +<a name="index-citizen-values_002c-convenience-v_002e-3"></a> +<p>A great challenge to the future of free software comes from the +tendency of the “Linux” distribution companies to add +nonfree software to GNU/Linux +in the name of convenience and power. All the major commercial +distribution developers do this; none limits itself to free software. +Most of them do not clearly identify the nonfree +packages in their distributions. Many even develop nonfree software +and add it to the system. Some outrageously advertise +“Linux” systems that are “licensed per seat,” +which give the user as much freedom as Microsoft +<a name="index-Windows"></a> +Windows. +</p> +<p>People try to justify adding nonfree software in the name of the +“popularity of Linux”—in effect, valuing popularity above +freedom. Sometimes this is openly admitted. For instance, +<a name="index-Wired-magazine"></a> +<cite>Wired</cite> +magazine said that +<a name="index-McMillan_002c-Robert"></a> +Robert McMillan, editor of +<a name="index-Linux-Magazine"></a> +<cite>Linux Magazine</cite>, “feels +that the move toward open source software should be fueled by +technical, rather than political, decisions.”<a name="DOCF28" href="#FOOT28">(28)</a> And +<a name="index-Caldera"></a> +Caldera’s +CEO openly urged +users to drop the goal of freedom and work instead for the +“popularity of Linux.” +</p> +<a name="index-citizen-values_002c-production-v_002e-freedom-and-way-of-life"></a> +<p>Adding nonfree software to the GNU/Linux system may increase the +popularity, if by popularity we mean the number of people using some +of GNU/Linux in combination with +nonfree software. But at the same time, it implicitly encourages the +community to accept nonfree software as a good thing, and forget the +goal of freedom. It is not good to drive faster if you can’t stay on the +road. +</p> +<a name="index-libraries-_0028comp_002e_0029_002c-as-traps"></a> +<a name="index-traps_002c-nonfree-libraries-1"></a> +<a name="index-traps_002c-nonfree-programming-tools"></a> +<a name="index-developers_002c-traps-for-1"></a> +<a name="index-Motif-_0028see-also-LessTif_0029-2"></a> +<a name="index-LessTif-_0028see-also-Motif_0029-2"></a> +<p>When the nonfree “add-on” is a library or programming +tool, it can become a trap for free software developers. When they +write free software that depends on the nonfree package, their +software cannot be part of a completely free system. Motif and +<a name="index-Qt-2"></a> +Qt trapped large amounts of free software in this way in the past, +creating problems whose solutions took years. Motif remained somewhat +of a problem until it became obsolete and was no longer used. Later, +<a name="index-Sun-Microsystems"></a> +Sun’s nonfree +<a name="index-Java"></a> +Java implementation had a similar effect: the Java Trap, +fortunately now mostly corrected. +</p> +<p>If our community keeps moving in this direction, it could redirect the +future of GNU/Linux into a mosaic of free and nonfree components. +Five years from now, we will surely still have plenty of free +software; but if we are not careful, it will hardly be usable without +the nonfree software that users expect to find with it. If this +happens, our campaign for freedom will have failed. +</p> +<p>If releasing free alternatives were simply a matter of programming, +solving future problems might become easier as our community’s +development resources increase. But we face obstacles that threaten to +make this harder: laws that prohibit free software. As software patents +mount up, and as laws like the +<a name="index-DMCA-_0028see-also-_0060_0060Right-to-Read_002c_0027_0027-fair-use_002c-DRM_002c-and-libraries_0029"></a> +Digital Millennium Copyright Act are used to prohibit the development of free software +for important jobs such as viewing a DVD or listening to a +<a name="index-RealAudio-stream"></a> +RealAudio +stream, we will find ourselves with no clear way to fight the patented +and secret data formats except to <em>reject the nonfree programs +that use them.</em> +</p> +<a name="index-call-to-action_002c-fight-for-freedom"></a> +<p>Meeting these challenges will require many different kinds of effort. +But what we need above all, to confront any kind of challenge, is to +remember the goal of freedom to cooperate. We can’t expect a mere +desire for powerful, reliable software to motivate people to make +great efforts. We need the kind of determination that people have +when they fight for their freedom and their community—determination +to keep on for years and not give up. +</p> +<p>In our community, this goal and this determination emanate mainly from +the +<a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-Project-6"></a> +GNU Project. We’re the ones who talk about freedom and community +as something to stand firm for; the organizations that speak of +“Linux” normally don’t say this. The magazines about +“Linux” are typically full of ads for nonfree software; +the companies that package “Linux” add nonfree software +to the system; other companies “support Linux” by +developing nonfree applications to run on GNU/Linux; the user groups +for “Linux” typically invite salesmen to present those +applications. The main place people in our community are likely to +come across the idea of freedom and determination is in the GNU +Project. +</p> +<p>But when people come across it, will they feel it relates to them? +</p> +<p>People who know they are using a system that came out of the GNU +Project can see a direct relationship between themselves and GNU. +They won’t automatically agree with our philosophy, but at least they +will see a reason to think seriously about it. In contrast, people +who consider themselves “Linux users,” and believe that +the GNU Project “developed tools which proved to be useful in +Linux,” typically perceive only an indirect relationship between +GNU and themselves. They may just ignore the GNU philosophy when they +come across it. +</p> +<p>The GNU Project is idealistic, and anyone encouraging idealism today +faces a great obstacle: the prevailing ideology encourages people to +dismiss idealism as “impractical.” Our idealism has been +extremely practical: it is the reason we have a +free GNU/Linux operating system. +People who love this system ought to know that it is our idealism made +real. +</p> +<a name="index-call-to-action_002c-use-correct-terminology-_0028see-also-terminology_0029-2"></a> +<p>If “the job” really were done, if there were nothing at +stake except credit, perhaps it would be wiser to let the matter drop. +But we are not in that position. To inspire people to do the work +that needs to be done, we need to be recognized for what we have +already done. Please help us, by calling the operating +system GNU/Linux. +<a name="index-nonfree-software_002c-insidious-and-nefarious-addition-of-1"></a> +<a name="index-terminology_002c-importance-of-using-correct-2"></a> +<a name="index-_0060_0060Linux_002c_0027_0027-erroneous-use-of-term-_0028see-also-open-source_0029-2"></a> +<a name="index-GNU_002fLinux-v_002e-_0060_0060Linux_0027_0027-_0028see-also-both-open-source-and-terminology_0029-1"></a> +<a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU_002fLinux-v_002e-_0060_0060Linux_0027_0027-_0028see-also-both-open-source-and-terminology_0029-1"></a> +</p><div class="footnote"> +<hr> +<h3>Footnotes</h3> +<h3><a name="FOOT28" href="#DOCF28">(28)</a></h3> +<p>Michelle Finley, “French Pols Say, ‘Open It Up,’” 24 April 2000, <a href="http://wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/04/35862">http://wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/04/35862</a>. +</p></div> +<hr size="2"> +<table cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" border="0"> +<tr><td valign="middle" align="left">[<a href="scrap1_11.html#Song" title="Previous section in reading order"> < </a>]</td> +<td valign="middle" align="left">[<a href="scrap1_13.html#Categories" title="Next section in reading order"> > </a>]</td> +<td valign="middle" align="left"> </td> +<td valign="middle" align="left">[Contents]</td> +<td valign="middle" align="left">[<a href="scrap1_U.4.html#Index" title="Index">Index</a>]</td> +<td valign="middle" align="left">[<a href="scrap1_abt.html#SEC_About" title="About (help)"> ? </a>]</td> +</tr></table> +<p> + <font size="-1"> + This document was generated by <em>Christian Grothoff</em> on <em>February 18, 2016</em> using <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/texi2html/"><em>texi2html 1.82</em></a>. + </font> + <br> + +</p> +</body> +</html> |