[ale] mint 13 vm running out of storage space

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi Ed,

I don't troll, ie, I don't post controversial topics to incite people.

However, I do like to have philosophical discussions on sometimes controversial topics.  Sometimes, that gets people emotional, including myself.  Hopefully, it also enlightens.

All the freedoms you and others mention are certainly desirable and beneficial.  But, they mainly apply to the user's.  I was mainly speaking about the implications for the developers.

My main points from a developer standpoint were:

A) If xyz organization or entity or person or group wants to develop complex software, and if they don't have access to tens of thousands of hours of free labor, and if that development will cost millions or billions of dollars, then the developer CANNOT develop the software.

B) Furthermore, in the above conditions, even if they have the deep pockets to absorb the cost, they probably will not have enough incentive to develop the software without a profit motive.

That was basically it.  I think there's room for both FOSS and commercial software in the world.  I think there are reasons to use both, depending on the circumstances.

I personally use the following FOSS software, and I thoroughly like the freedom it gives me: Mint, LibreOffice, Firefox, Noscript, Lastpass, Foxit PDF reader (free but not FOSS I think), Blender, and a few others.  As a user, I thoroughly appreciate the freedoms that embodies and the availability and accessibility of this software.

I'm simply saying that, if I was a developer, looking at a LARGE investment of engineering work to develop something, I'm not sure I would make it FOSS.

Here's another thing I just thought of.  I don't want the flight control software (or hardware) on the Boeing 747 I might be sitting in at 30,000 feet above the ground to be FOSS (or FOSH).  I want that to be rigorously designed by highly trained engineers working in a cohesive manner and thoroughly tested.  Furthermore, if I'm an airline and I bought the plane, I want world class support in case there are problems.

I'm not bashing FOSS.  I'm questioning the concept that it is the only viable or proper way to do things.

Sincerely,

Ron

  

Edward Holcroft <eholcroft at mkainc.com> wrote:

>I smell a troll, but I'll take the bait anyway.
>
>"There is nothing free about free software."
>
>You misunderstand Free Software. Perhaps you are confusing it with
>Freeware, or some similar concept. Note though that those producst that
>fall under the banner of freeware can differ widely in terms of what
>they
>mean by "free". If you subscribe to the "Teenage Wind" view of Free
>("when
>you don't have to/Pay for nothing/Or do nothing"), otherwise known as
>the
>Freetard view of freedom, then you would be right. But this is not he
>view
>of freedom held by proponents of Free Software. The definition of Free
>Software is quite specific. It means this (from www.fsf.org):
>
>The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
>The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does
>your
>computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a
>precondition for this.
>The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
>(freedom
>2).
>The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others
>(freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to
>benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition
>for
>this.
>
>If you can grasp this (it's not hard), then you will understand that
>free
>software is a matter of liberty, not price.
>
>hth
>ed
>-- 
>Edward Holcroft | Madsen Kneppers & Associates Inc.
>3020 Holcomb Bridge Rd. NW | Norcross, GA 30071
>O (770) 446-9606 | M (770) 630-0949
>



--

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Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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