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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/social-inertia.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/social-inertia.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef004e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/social-inertia.html @@ -0,0 +1,129 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 --> +<title>Overcoming Social Inertia +- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/social-inertia.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> +<h2>Overcoming Social Inertia</h2> + +<p>by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/"><strong>Richard +Stallman</strong></a></p> + +<p> +Almost two decades have passed since the combination of GNU and Linux first made +it possible to use a PC in freedom. We have come a long way since then. Now you can even buy a laptop with GNU/Linux preinstalled from +more than one hardware vendor—although the systems they ship are not +entirely free software. So what holds us back from total success?</p> + +<p> +The main obstacle to the triumph of software freedom is social +inertia. It exists in many forms, and you have surely seen some of +them. Examples include devices that only work on Windows, commercial +web sites accessible only with Windows, and the BBC's iPlayer +handcuffware, which runs only on Windows. If you value short-term +convenience instead of freedom, you might consider these reason enough +to use Windows. Most companies currently run Windows, so students who +think short-term want to learn how to use it and ask their schools to +teach it. Schools teach Windows, produce graduates that are used to +using Windows, and this encourages businesses to use Windows.</p> + +<p>Microsoft actively nurtures this inertia: it encourages schools to +inculcate dependency on Windows, and contracts to set up web sites +that then turn out to work only with Internet Explorer.</p> + +<p> +A few years ago, Microsoft ads argued that Windows was cheaper to run +than GNU/Linux. Their comparisons were debunked, but it is worth +noting the deeper flaw in their argument, the implicit premise which +cites a form of social inertia: “Currently, more technical +people know Windows than GNU/Linux.” People who value their +freedom would not give it up to save money, but many business +executives believe ideologically that everything they possess, even +their freedom, should be for sale.</p> + +<p> +Social inertia consists of people who have given in to social inertia. +When you surrender to social inertia, you become part of the pressure +it exerts on others; when you resist it, you reduce it. We conquer +social inertia by identifying it, and resolving not to be part of +it.</p> + +<p> +Here a weakness holds our community back: most GNU/Linux +users have never even heard the ideas +of freedom that motivated the development of GNU, so they still judge +matters based on short-term convenience rather than on their freedom. +This makes them vulnerable to being led by the nose by social +inertia, so that they become part of the inertia.</p> + +<p> +To build our community's strength to resist, we need to talk about +free software and freedom—not merely about the practical +benefits that open source supporters cite. As more people recognize +what they need to do to overcome the inertia, we will make more +progress.</p> + +</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> +<div id="footer"> +<div class="unprintable"> + +<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to +<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. +There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> +the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent +to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> + +<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, + replace it with the translation of these two: + + We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality + translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. + Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard + to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> + <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> + + <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of + our web pages, see <a + href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations + README</a>. --> +Please see the <a +href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations +README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations +of this article.</p> +</div> + +<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to + files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should + be under CC BY-ND 3.0 US. Please do NOT change or remove this + without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. + Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the + document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the + document was modified, or published. + + If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. + Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying + years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable + year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including + being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). + + There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers + Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> + +<p>Copyright © 2007 Richard Stallman</p> + +<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" +href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/">Creative +Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License</a>.</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p class="unprintable">Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2014/04/12 12:40:46 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> |