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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_9.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_9.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..872f86e --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_9.html @@ -0,0 +1,191 @@ +<!-- 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. + --> + + + <a name="Why-Free-Software-Needs-Free-Documentation"> + </a> + <h1 class="chapter"> + 9. Why Free Software Needs Free Documentation + </h1> + <a name="index-documentation-_0028see-also-both-FDL-and-manuals_0029-2"> + </a> + <a name="index-manuals-_0028see-also-manuals_002c-FDL_002c-and-documentation_0029-1"> + </a> + <p> + The biggest deficiency in free operating systems is not in the +software—it is the lack of good free manuals that we can include +in these systems. Many of our most important programs do not come +with full manuals. Documentation is an essential part of any software +package; when an important free software package does not come with a +free manual, that is a major gap. We have many such gaps today. + </p> + <a name="index-Perl"> + </a> + <p> + Once upon a time, many years ago, I thought I would learn Perl. I got +a copy of a free manual, but I found it hard to read. When I asked +Perl users about alternatives, they told me that there were better +introductory manuals—but those were not free. + </p> + <p> + Why was this? The authors of the good manuals had written them for + <a name="index-O_0027Reilly-Associates"> + </a> + O’Reilly Associates, which published them with restrictive +terms—no copying, no modification, source files not +available—which exclude them from the free software +community. + </p> + <p> + That wasn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened, and (to +our community’s great loss) it was far from the last. Proprietary +manual publishers have enticed a great many authors to restrict their +manuals since then. Many times I have heard a GNU user eagerly tell +me about a manual that he is writing, with which he expects to help +the + <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-Project-3"> + </a> + GNU Project—and then had my hopes dashed, as he proceeded to +explain that he had signed a contract with a publisher that would +restrict it so that we cannot use it. + </p> + <p> + Given that writing good English is a rare skill among programmers, we +can ill afford to lose manuals this way. + </p> + <p> + Free documentation, like free software, is a matter of freedom, not +price. The problem with these manuals was not that O’Reilly +Associates charged a price for printed copies—that in itself is +fine. (The + <a name="index-FSF_002c-and-selling-GNU-manuals"> + </a> + <a name="index-manuals_002c-GNU"> + </a> + <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-manuals"> + </a> + Free Software Foundation sells printed +copies of free GNU manuals, too.) But +GNU manuals are available in source code form, while these manuals are +available only on paper. GNU manuals come with permission to copy and +modify; the Perl manuals do not. These restrictions are the problems. + </p> + <p> + The criterion for a free manual is pretty much the same as for free +software: it is a matter of giving all users certain freedoms. +Redistribution (including commercial redistribution) must be +permitted, so that the manual can accompany every copy of the program, +on line or on paper. Permission for modification is crucial too. + </p> + <p> + As a general rule, I don’t believe that it is essential for people to +have permission to modify all sorts of articles and books. The issues +for writings are not necessarily the same as those for software. For +example, I don’t think you or I are obliged to give permission to +modify articles like this one, which describe our actions and our +views. + </p> + <p> + But there is a particular reason why the freedom to modify is crucial +for documentation for free software. When people exercise their right +to modify the software, and add or change its features, if they are +conscientious they will change the manual too—so they can provide +accurate and usable documentation with the modified program. A manual +which forbids programmers from being conscientious and finishing the job, or +more precisely requires them to write a new manual from scratch if +they change the program, does not fill our community’s needs. + </p> + <p> + While a blanket prohibition on modification is unacceptable, some +kinds of limits on the method of modification pose no problem. For +example, requirements to preserve the original author’s copyright +notice, the distribution terms, or the list of authors, are OK. It is +also no problem to require modified versions to include notice that +they were modified, even to have entire sections that may not be +deleted or changed, as long as these sections deal with nontechnical +topics. (Some GNU manuals have them.) + </p> + <p> + These kinds of restrictions are not a problem because, as a practical +matter, they don’t stop the conscientious programmer from adapting the +manual to fit the modified program. In other words, they don’t block +the free software community from making full use of the manual. + </p> + <p> + However, it must be possible to modify all the + <em> + technical + </em> + content of the manual, and then distribute the result through all the usual +media, through all the usual channels; otherwise, the restrictions do +block the community, the manual is not free, and so we need another +manual. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, it is often hard to find someone to write another +manual when a proprietary manual exists. The obstacle is that many +users think that a proprietary manual is good enough—so they +don’t see the need to write a free manual. They do not see that the +free operating system has a gap that needs filling. + </p> + <p> + Why do users think that proprietary manuals are good enough? Some +have not considered the issue. I hope this article will do something +to change that. + </p> + <a name="index-citizen-values_002c-proprietary-manuals"> + </a> + <p> + Other users consider proprietary manuals acceptable for the same +reason so many people consider proprietary software acceptable: they +judge in purely practical terms, not using freedom as a criterion. +These people are entitled to their opinions, but since those opinions +spring from values which do not include freedom, they are no guide for +those of us who do value freedom. + </p> + <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-promote-free-documentation"> + </a> + <p> + Please spread the word about this issue. We continue to lose manuals +to proprietary publishing. If we spread the word that proprietary +manuals are not sufficient, perhaps the next person who wants to help +GNU by writing documentation will realize, before it is too late, that +he must above all make it free. + </p> + <p> + We can also encourage commercial publishers to sell free, copylefted +manuals instead of proprietary ones. One way you can help this is to +check the distribution terms of a manual before you buy it, and +prefer copylefted manuals to noncopylefted ones. + </p> + <p> + <b> + Note: + </b> + We maintain a page that lists free books available from other publishers. + <a name="index-documentation-_0028see-also-both-FDL-and-manuals_0029-3"> + </a> + <a name="index-manuals-_0028see-also-manuals_002c-FDL_002c-and-documentation_0029-2"> + </a> + </p> + <hr size="2"/> + |