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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/use-free-software.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/use-free-software.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9665005 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/use-free-software.html @@ -0,0 +1,176 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.86 --> +<title>The Free Software Community After 20 Years +- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/use-free-software.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> +<h2>The Free Software Community After 20 Years: <br /> +With great but incomplete success, what now?</h2> + +<p>by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/"><strong>Richard +Stallman</strong></a></p> + +<p> +It was 5 Jan 1984, twenty years ago today, that I quit my job at MIT +to begin developing a free software operating system, +<a href="/gnu/the-gnu-project.html">GNU</a>. While we have never +released a complete GNU system suitable for production use, a variant +of the GNU system is now used by tens of millions of people who mostly +are not aware it is such. Free software does not mean +“gratis”; it means that users are free to run the program, +study the source code, change it, and redistribute it either with or +without changes, either gratis or for a fee.</p> + +<p> +My hope was that a free operating system would open a path to escape +forever from the system of subjugation which is proprietary software. +I had experienced the ugliness of the way of life that nonfree +software imposes on its users, and I was determined to escape and give +others a way to escape.</p> + +<p> +Non-free software carries with it an antisocial system that prohibits +cooperation and community. You are typically unable to see the source +code; you cannot tell what nasty tricks, or what foolish bugs, it +might contain. If you don't like it, you are helpless to change it. +Worst of all, you are forbidden to share it with anyone else. To +prohibit sharing software is to cut the bonds of society.</p> + +<p> +Today we have a large community of users who run GNU, Linux and other +free software. Thousands of people would like to extend this, and +have adopted the goal of convincing more computer users to “use +free software”. But what does it mean to “use free +software”? Does that mean escaping from proprietary software, +or merely installing free programs alongside it? Are we aiming to +lead people to freedom, or just introduce them to our code? In other +words, are we working for freedom, or have we replaced that goal with +the shallow goal of popularity?</p> + +<p> +It's easy to get in the habit of overlooking this distinction, because +in many common situations it makes no difference. When you're trying +to convince a person to try a free program, or to install the +<a href="/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html">GNU/Linux</a> operating system, +either goal would lead to the same practical conduct. However, in +other situations the two goals inspire very different actions.</p> + +<p> +For instance, what should we say when the nonfree Invidious video +driver, the nonfree Prophecy database, or the nonfree Indonesia +language interpreter and libraries, is released in a version that runs +on GNU/Linux? Should we thank the developers for this +“support” for our system, or should we regard this +nonfree program like any other—as an attractive nuisance, a +temptation to accept bondage, a problem to be solved?</p> + +<p> +If you take as your goal the increased popularity of certain free +software, if you seek to convince more people to use some free +programs some of the time, you might think those nonfree programs are +helpful contributions to that goal. It is hard to dispute the claim +that their availability helps make GNU/Linux more popular. If the +widespread use of GNU or Linux is the ultimate goal of our community, +we should logically applaud all applications that run on it, whether +free or not.</p> + +<p> +But if our goal is freedom, that changes everything. Users cannot be +free while using a nonfree program. To free the citizens of +cyberspace, we have to replace those nonfree programs, not accept +them. They are not contributions to our community, they are +temptations to settle for continuing non-freedom.</p> + +<p> +There are two common motivations to develop a free program. One is +that there is no program to do the job. Unfortunately, accepting the +use of a nonfree program eliminates that motivation. The other is +the will to be free, which motivates people to write free replacements +for nonfree programs. In cases like these, that motive is the only +one that can do the job. Simply by using a new and unfinished free +replacement, before it technically compares with the nonfree model, +you can help encourage the free developers to persevere until it +becomes superior.</p> + +<p> +Those nonfree programs are not trivial. Developing free replacements +for them will be a big job; it may take years. The work may need the +help of future hackers, young people today, people yet to be inspired +to join the work on free software. What can we do today to help +convince other people, in the future, to maintain the necessary +determination and persistence to finish this work?</p> + +<p> +The most effective way to strengthen our community for the future is +to spread understanding of the value of freedom—to teach more +people to recognize the moral unacceptability of nonfree software. +People who value freedom are, in the long term, its best and essential +defense.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><strong>Originally published on Newsforge.</strong></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 4.0. 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 © 2004, 2017, 2018 Richard Stallman</p> + +<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" +href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative +Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p class="unprintable">Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2018/12/15 14:02:39 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> +</body> +</html> |