free software
The birth of a new conglomerate
Submitted by libervisco on Tue, 2006-11-21 16:14. community free software gnu gpl
The wikipedia quite simply defines what is a conglomerate.
A conglomerate is a large company that consists of divisions of often seemingly unrelated businesses.
While there are often negative connotations being associated with a conglomerate, the new one which we are witnessing today is different in so many ways. This is a conglomerate you, your project or your business can be a part of to the full extent. All you have to do is observe and play by the rules. This is a conglomerate that we today call: The Community. That is its name.
From Libervis Blogs: Developers do not matter, Users even less.
Submitted by libervisco on Mon, 2006-10-09 17:28. community developers free software usersOne of the active bloggers on Libervis Blogs, Charles Schulz is writing a three part article series examining the Free Software community and relationships between users and developers. He is asserting that the notions of "users" and "developers" are highly irrelevant.
GPLv3: What is an alternative solution?
Submitted by libervisco on Tue, 2006-09-26 17:22. digital rights free software gpl gplv3 linuxAs suspected, the criticizing position statement by Linux kernel developers on GPLv3 which calls for the termination of the GPLv3 process is stirring the pot. Free Software foundation has issued a response claiming that the recent discussion brought some misleading information and tried to address and clarify it. Soon after Linus Torvalds released a statement of his own, this time taking a more positive approach by praising GPLv2 with an attitude of "not caring so much about why the GPLv3 is worse, but a much more positive 'Why the GPLv2 is _better_".
I would have to applaud this attempt at putting a positive spin on the discussion. At the very least it disperses a view that could potentially develop among outsiders not knowing too much about GPL and not involved in the discussion, that when questioning GPLv3, it is whole GPL (no matter the version) which is being brought in question.
GPLv3 is to preserve Free Software, not kill it
Submitted by libervisco on Mon, 2006-09-25 02:35. free software gpl gplv3 linuxA group of important Linux kernel developers have recently published a position statement on GPLv3, as reported by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols in a story with a rather alarmist title: "GPLv3 could kill open source, top Linux dev's warn". In truth, the goal is exactly and essentially just the opposite. I have little doubt that the statement will deepen the controversy already present around the new version of the most popular Free Software license, especially since Linus Torvalds criticized the license on a number of occassions before.
Unfortunately, the statement doesn't strike me as very constructive in regards to the GPLv3 development process. Indeed, it calls for its termination under a rather drastic prediction of what should happen otherwise, " balkanization, which will be manifested by distributions being forced to fork various packages in order to get consistent licenses, has the potential to inflict massive collateral damage upon our entire ecosystem and jeopardize the very utility and survival of Open Source."
Unfortunately, the statement doesn't strike me as very constructive in regards to the GPLv3 development process. Indeed, it calls for its termination under a rather drastic prediction of what should happen otherwise, " balkanization, which will be manifested by distributions being forced to fork various packages in order to get consistent licenses, has the potential to inflict massive collateral damage upon our entire ecosystem and jeopardize the very utility and survival of Open Source."
Free Culture Needs Free Software
Submitted by libervisco on Sun, 2006-02-26 17:29. free culture free softwareWhat is a Free Culture
Before talking about Free Culture we should establish some kind of a definition of Free Culture, in that it would seem logical we should first define "culture" and then identify what it is that makes this culture to become a free one. It is not an easy task regarding the term "culture" tends to mean various things in several contexts of use. However, if we look at some most common contexts we can see what culture in general may consist of and reach a better understanding of what it is, and in the end, what turns it a free one.
That said, we can recognize "culture" as a system of beliefs, ethics and morality, various methods, approaches and solutions to common problems, common human behaviors, sense of creativity and ultimately the outcome of any of the above in interaction (for comparison see: Wikipedia and dictionary.com definitions from which this was partly derived).
