Re:[ox-en] Re: Importance of price
- From: raoulv club-internet.fr
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:35:49 +0200
* The actual product is gratis
However: Price plays a role, but is not crucial
Stefan Seefeld wrote:
Given how confused most people still are about this
free-as-in-speech-vs.-free-as-in-beer ambiguity, I find the above point
not very helpful. What is "the product", and what is gratis about it ?
It may have been best to skip this point, or simply stating that the issue
is in fact about freedom, not price.
Yuwei wrote:
I think it is time to give the audience the 'correct' perception that free
software does not mean 'gratis' and people should not expect free labour
and gifts. There are many free software developers making a living on
developing free software or providing relevant service, and this should be
emphasised in order to promote an economy of free software.
GRATIS means that "one does not have to pay for some good or service (free of
charge), even though the good or service has value" (Wikipedia English).
One of the main characteristics of Free Software, according to the original
(1986) but still prevalent definition, is: "Freedom 2: The freedom to copy the
program so you can help your neighbor."
To have the freedom to copy a program means in concrete terms the freedom to
have the program "without having to pay for it", which means GRATIS. When the
definition says that this allows you to "help your neighbor" it is clear that
you are not selling the program to your neigbor.
If you consider the 4 freedoms given by Free Software it is obvious that in
practice they make FS programs *gratis*.
The fact that you may need, for using some programs, support and specific
services does not change anything to the fact that you do not pay for the
product itself. I do not see why it would be a *correct perception* to make a
confusion between the product, the program itself and the services you may need
in some cases. Would it be *correct* to say a lie like pretending that Gimp or
Ubuntu are not gratis and that you must pay for it?
As Stefan Mn, I think that the reasons for which R. Stallman and others insist
on assimilating the "free" of Free Software only to the one in "free speach"
and not in "free beer" are related to ideological needs. B. Gates accused Free
Software of being "communist". They may think that it is a way to defend
themselves from such an accusation.
Yuwei says that we should not use the word gratis "in order to promote an
economy of free software". But I do not think you can promote anything by
hiding a part of the reality. This is true even if the economy you want to
promote is, as she says, "market-based". But it is crucial if the "economy" you
want to promote is a non-market one.
Raoul
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