www/philosophy open-source-misses-the-point.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       16/06/07 04:32:01

Modified files:
        philosophy     : open-source-misses-the-point.html 

Log message:
        Mention the philosophical weakness of the idea of "gift".
        
        Minor change about side effect of contributing.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.82&r2=1.83

Patches:
Index: open-source-misses-the-point.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html,v
retrieving revision 1.82
retrieving revision 1.83
diff -u -b -r1.82 -r1.83
--- open-source-misses-the-point.html   2 May 2016 10:33:06 -0000       1.82
+++ open-source-misses-the-point.html   7 Jun 2016 04:32:01 -0000       1.83
@@ -312,6 +312,12 @@
 certain free software, they might be able to &ldquo;sell&rdquo; the
 software more effectively to certain users, especially business.</p>
 
+<p>When open source proponents talk about anything deeper than that,
+it is usually the idea of making a &ldquo;gift&rdquo; of source code
+to humanity.  Presenting this as a special good deed, beyond what is
+morally required, presumes that distributing proprietary software
+without source code is morally legitimate.</p>
+
 <p>This approach has proved effective, in its own terms.  The rhetoric
 of open source has convinced many businesses and individuals to use,
 and even develop, free software, which has extended our
@@ -378,11 +384,11 @@
 <p>Thus, free software activists are well advised to decline to work
 on an activity that calls itself &ldquo;open.&rdquo;  Even if the
 activity is good in and of itself, each contribution you make does a
-little harm on the side.  There are plenty of other good activities
-which call themselves &ldquo;free&rdquo; or &ldquo;libre.&rdquo; Each
-contribution to those projects does a little extra good on the side.
-With so many useful projects to choose from, why not choose one
-which does extra good?</p>
+little harm on the side by promoting the open source idea.  There are
+plenty of other good activities which call themselves
+&ldquo;free&rdquo; or &ldquo;libre.&rdquo; Each contribution to those
+projects does a little extra good on the side.  With so many useful
+projects to choose from, why not choose one which does extra good?</p>
 
 <h3>Conclusion</h3>
 
@@ -453,7 +459,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2016/05/02 10:33:06 $
+$Date: 2016/06/07 04:32:01 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>