An interesting complaint by Stuart Langridge.
Same old, same old?
There is actually a complex and deep issue in play here – the conflict between Free Software and Open Source Software philosophies, but what I find more immediately interesting is not Mr Langridge’s (somewhat justified) concern, but the selection of commentors, so many of which seem so eager to map Mr. Langridge’s concerns to their own.
It’s not that there is anything new in there, but it’s always interesting to see the same people pop up employing the same rhetoric (broad brushes and demagogy are the go-to favorites.)
Here’s my biggest issue with this sort of issue.
Perhaps I am out of touch, but I have never ran into anyone advocating that Free Software is an “all or nothing” situation. I mean that literally. I have never communicated with or read anything by a single individual that takes that position.
In contrast, I have experiences too numerable to count where this “Freedom or Death”-style of advocate is railed against. I have been painted with that too-broad-brush even though I specifically mention some non-Free software I choose to use.
Now, I won’t say there isn’t anyone at all alive that is “Free or Nothing” – I’m sure you can find at least 1 person taking any position you can imagine on the internet – but I reject the assertion there is some large organized (or disorganized) group of people that are “only-freedom-the-way-I-say”.
For example, Team Apologista loves to rail and launch vicious personal attacks against the FSF in general and Richard Stallman personally, yet rms is always careful to acknowledge people have the personal freedom to choose non-Free software, he just hopes to make a persuasive case so that people won’t. Sometimes he convinces a person. Sometimes he doesn’t. Yet if I had a dollar for every time someone tried to pretend like rms was hell-bent on taking away your iPod, I’d be owning the company making them.
Here’s the sad part
I can’t name one major Open-Source-not-Free-Software activist that offers up any real criticism to the Free Software messaging coming out of the FSF. That’s not to say it doesn’t exist – I have covered in this blog a few lawyer and professor types that laid out very intelligent and considered issues on the GPL and Free Software in general, but they are so few and far between.
The overwhelmingly vast majority of criticism against Free Software basically starts with “Freetard” and ends with “Communist/Socialist/Zealot”. Usually there are a lot of lies and distortions in the middle – I wonder what motivates someone to take a position they are not able to rationally defend, one which they must resort to (and repeat) logical fallacies of all flavors?
In any case, I suggest you read the blog and pay special attention to the comments.
#1 by nautical on June 25, 2010 - 8:06 am
>I wonder what motivates someone to take a position they are not able to rationally defend, one which they must resort to (and repeat) logical fallacies of all flavors?
The thing about anti-social behaviour is that it stops being regarded as such when enough people bring it into practice.
The basic problem with non-free software is that in its core it encourages anti-social behaviour.
If someone would explain to you you are behaving anti-socially
it is a natural reaction to convince yourself your behaviour is not anti-social, because a lot of people are doing it, so it can’t be wrong. And as such there must be something wrong with the accusing party. So you band together, set up a straw-figure, and repeat the reasons why you can’t be wrong.
The great problem here is not people *using* proprietary software, (which we almost all do at times, you, me, and yes, even RMS), but promoting the use of proprietary software as an acceptable practice, *just to make themselves feel better about their own behaviour*.
No-one can be 100% socially minded all of the time, but that doesn’t mean that we should accept it if someone should advocate such flaws as acceptable or even eligible by calling it “pragmatic” and pitting it against the “purist” approach.
It would be wrong to ostracize someone for simply using non-free software. But it would not be wrong to criticize a person for championing non-free software (for what are basically anti-social and selfish purposes again, i.e. to feel better about oneself at the expense of others.)
#2 by Jason on June 25, 2010 - 8:12 am
nautical,
Thank you for that comment! Well said indeed!