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www/encyclopedia free-encyclopedia.html
|
From: |
Yavor Doganov |
|
Subject: |
www/encyclopedia free-encyclopedia.html |
|
Date: |
Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:41:14 +0000 |
CVSROOT: /web/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Yavor Doganov <yavor> 09/01/22 14:41:14
Modified files:
encyclopedia : free-encyclopedia.html
Log message:
Templated.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.10&r2=1.11
Patches:
Index: free-encyclopedia.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.html,v
retrieving revision 1.10
retrieving revision 1.11
diff -u -b -r1.10 -r1.11
--- free-encyclopedia.html 25 Jun 2008 16:59:41 -0000 1.10
+++ free-encyclopedia.html 22 Jan 2009 14:40:21 -0000 1.11
@@ -1,95 +1,55 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
- "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd";>
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"; xml:lang="en">
-<HEAD>
-<TITLE>The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource - GNU Project -
Free Software Foundation (FSF)</TITLE>
-<LINK REV="made" HREF="mailto:address@hidden";>
-<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/gnu.css" />
-<link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/graphics/gnu-head-mini.png" />
-</HEAD>
-<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#1F00FF" ALINK="#FF0000"
VLINK="#9900DD">
-<H1>The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource</H1>
-<!-- When using this boilerplate, remember to: -->
-<!-- -replace the "???" in both places above. -->
-<!-- -replace the "boilerplate." several places below. -->
-
-<!-- when you replace this graphic, make sure you change the link
- to also point to the correct HTML page.
- If you make a new graphic for this page, make sure it has
- a corresponding entry in /graphics/graphics.html . -->
-<A HREF="/graphics/agnuhead.html"><IMG SRC="/graphics/gnu-head-sm.jpg"
- ALT=" [image of the Head of a GNU] "
- WIDTH="129" HEIGHT="122"></A>
-
-[
-<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical -->
-<!-- PLEASE UPDATE THE LIST AT THE BOTTOM (OR TOP) OF THE PAGE TOO! -->
- <A HREF="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.html">English</A>
-| <A HREF="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.it.html">Italian</A>
-<!-- | A HREF="/boilerplate.LG.html" LANGUAGE /A -->
-<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical -->
-<!-- PLEASE UPDATE THE LIST AT THE BOTTOM (OR TOP) OF THE PAGE TOO! -->
-]
-
-<P>
-<HR>
-
-<P>
-<!-- Replace this list with the page's contents. -->
-<H2><a name="TOC">Table of Contents</a></H2>
-<UL>
- <LI><A HREF="#announcement">Announcement of the Project</A></LI>
- <LI><a HREF="#worksinprogress">Works in Progress</a></LI>
-</UL>
-</p>
-
-<P>
-<HR>
-<H4><A HREF="#TOC" NAME="announcement">Announcement of the Project</A></H4>
-</P>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<title>The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource - GNU Project -
Free Software Foundation (FSF)</title>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource</h2>
-<H2>The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource</H2>
+<img src="/encyclopedia/logo.png" alt="" style="float: right;" />
-<p style="font-weight: bold">By Richard Stallman</p>
+<h3><a href="/encyclopedia/anencyc.txt">Announcement of the
+Project</a></h3>
+
+<p>by <strong>Richard Stallman</strong></p>
<p>
The World Wide Web has the potential to develop into a universal
encyclopedia covering all areas of knowledge, and a complete library
of instructional courses. This outcome could happen without any
special effort, if no one interferes. But corporations are mobilizing
-now to direct the future down a different track—one in which they
-control and restrict access to learning materials, so as to extract
-money from people who want to learn.
+now to direct the future down a different track—one in which
+they control and restrict access to learning materials, so as to
+extract money from people who want to learn.
</p>
+
<p>
-To ensure that the web develops toward the best and most natural outcome,
-where it becomes a free encyclopedia, we must make a conscious effort
-to prevent deliberate sequestration of the encyclopedic and
-educational information on the net. We cannot stop business from
-restricting the information it makes available; what we can do is
-provide an alternative. We need to launch a movement to develop a
-universal free encyclopedia, much as the Free Software movement gave
-us the free software operating system GNU/Linux. The free
-encyclopedia will provide an alternative to the restricted ones that
-media corporations will write.
+To ensure that the web develops toward the best and most natural
+outcome, where it becomes a free encyclopedia, we must make a
+conscious effort to prevent deliberate sequestration of the
+encyclopedic and educational information on the net. We cannot stop
+business from restricting the information it makes available; what we
+can do is provide an alternative. We need to launch a movement to
+develop a universal free encyclopedia, much as the Free Software
+movement gave us the free software operating system GNU/Linux. The
+free encyclopedia will provide an alternative to the restricted ones
+that media corporations will write.
</p>
+
<p>
The rest of this article aims to lay out what the free encyclopedia
-needs to do, what sort of freedoms it needs to give the public,
-and how we can get started on developing it.
+needs to do, what sort of freedoms it needs to give the public, and
+how we can get started on developing it.
</p>
-<h3>An encyclopedia located everywhere.</h3>
+<h4>An encyclopedia located everywhere.</h4>
<p>
In the past, encyclopedias have been written under the direction of a
single organization, which made all decisions about the content, and
have been published in a centralized fashion. It would not make sense
-to develop and publish the free encyclopedia in those ways—they fit
-poorly with the nature of the World Wide Web and with the resources
-available for writing the encyclopedia.
+to develop and publish the free encyclopedia in those ways—they
+fit poorly with the nature of the World Wide Web and with the
+resources available for writing the encyclopedia.
</p>
+
<p>
The free encyclopedia will not be published in any one place. It will
consist of all web pages that cover suitable topics, and have been
@@ -100,7 +60,7 @@
incompatible with decentralized progress.
</p>
-<h3>Who will write the encyclopedia?</h3>
+<h4>Who will write the encyclopedia?</h4>
<p>
In principle, anyone is welcome to write articles for the
@@ -112,13 +72,14 @@
article, if done especially well.
</p>
-<h3>Small steps will do the job.</h3>
+<h4>Small steps will do the job.</h4>
<p>
When a project is exciting, it is easy to imagine a big contribution
that you would like to make, bite off more than you can chew, and
ultimately give up with nothing to show for it.
</p>
+
<p>
So it is important to welcome and encourage smaller contributions.
Writing a textbook for a whole semester's material is a big job, and
@@ -128,13 +89,14 @@
contributions can cover the whole range of knowledge.
</p>
-<h3>Take the long view.</h3>
+<h4>Take the long view.</h4>
<p>
The encyclopedia is a big job, and it won't be finished in a year. If
it takes twenty years to complete the free encyclopedia, that will be
but an instant in the history of literature and civilization.
</p>
+
<p>
In projects like this, progress is slow for the first few years; then
it accelerates as the work that has been done attracts more and more
@@ -144,6 +106,7 @@
illustrate what can be done, and to spread interest in the long-term
goal, so as to inspire others to join in.
</p>
+
<p>
This means that the pioneers' job, in the early years, is above all to
be steadfast. We must be on guard against downgrading to a less
@@ -154,7 +117,7 @@
finish the job.
</p>
-<h3>Evangelize.</h3>
+<h4>Evangelize.</h4>
<p>
Since we hope that teachers and students at many colleges around the
@@ -165,7 +128,7 @@
encyclopedia, and invite others to join in writing it.
</p>
-<h3>What should the free encyclopedia contain?</h3>
+<h4>What should the free encyclopedia contain?</h4>
<p>
The free encyclopedia should aim eventually to include one or more
@@ -174,12 +137,14 @@
amount of encyclopedic material that can be on the web, this
encyclopedia should eventually also cover the more advanced and
specialized topics you might expect to find in specialized
-encyclopedias, such as an "Encyclopedia of Physics", "Encyclopedia of
-Medicine", "Encyclopedia of Gardening", or "Encyclopedia of Cooking".
-It could go even further; for example, bird watchers might eventually
+encyclopedias, such as an “Encyclopedia of Physics”,
+“Encyclopedia of Medicine”, “Encyclopedia of
+Gardening”, or “Encyclopedia of Cooking”. It could
+go even further; for example, bird watchers might eventually
contribute an article on each species of bird, along with pictures and
recordings of its calls.
</p>
+
<p>
However, only some kinds of information belong in an encyclopedia.
For example, scholarly papers, detailed statistical data bases, news
@@ -188,6 +153,7 @@
encyclopedia. (Some of the articles might usefully contain links to
such works.)
</p>
+
<p>
Courses in the learning resource are a generalization to hypertext of
the textbooks used for teaching a subject to yourself or to a class.
@@ -195,107 +161,116 @@
academic subjects, from mathematics to art history, and practical
subjects such as gardening as well, to the extent this makes sense.
(Some practical subjects, such as massage or instrumental ensemble
-playing, may not be possible to study from a "book" without a human
-teacher—these are arguably less useful to include.) It should cover
-these subjects at all the levels that are useful, which might in some
-cases range from first grade to graduate school.
+playing, may not be possible to study from a “book”
+without a human teacher—these are arguably less useful to
+include.) It should cover these subjects at all the levels that are
+useful, which might in some cases range from first grade to graduate
+school.
</p>
+
<p>
A useful encyclopedia article will address a specific topic at a
particular level, and each author will contribute mainly by focusing
on an area that he or she knows very well. But we should keep in the
back of our minds, while doing this, the vision of a free encyclopedia
-that is universal in scope—so that we can firmly reject any attempt
-to put artificial limits on either the scope or the free status of the
-encyclopedia.
+that is universal in scope—so that we can firmly reject any
+attempt to put artificial limits on either the scope or the free
+status of the encyclopedia.
</p>
-<h3>Criteria pages must meet.</h3>
+<h4>Criteria pages must meet.</h4>
<p>
To ensure this encyclopedia is indeed a free and universal
encyclopedia, we must set criteria of freeness for encyclopedia
articles and courses to meet.
</p>
+
<p>
Conventional non-free encyclopedias published by companies such as
Microsoft will surely be made available on the web, sooner or
-later—but you will probably have to pay to read an article, and you
-surely won't be allowed to redistribute them. If we are content with
-knowledge as a commodity, accessible only through a computerized
+later—but you will probably have to pay to read an article, and
+you surely won't be allowed to redistribute them. If we are content
+with knowledge as a commodity, accessible only through a computerized
bureaucracy, we can simply let companies provide it.
</p>
+
<p>
But if we want to keep human knowledge open and freely available to
humanity, we have to do the work to make it available that way. We
have to write a free encyclopedia—so we must first determine the
-proper interpretation of "free" for an encyclopedia on the Internet.
-We must decide what criteria of freedom a free encyclopedia and a free
-learning resource should meet.
+proper interpretation of “free” for an encyclopedia on the
+Internet. We must decide what criteria of freedom a free encyclopedia
+and a free learning resource should meet.
</p>
-<h4>Permit universal access.</h4>
+<h5>Permit universal access.</h5>
<p>
The free encyclopedia should be open to public access by everyone who
can gain access to the web. Those who seek to gain control over
educational materials, so they can profit by restricting access to
-them, will push us to "compromise" by agreeing to restrict access
-in exchange for their participation. We must stand firm, and reject
-any deal that is inconsistent with the ultimate goal. We are in no
-hurry, and there is no sense in getting to the wrong place a few years
-sooner.
+them, will push us to “compromise” by agreeing to restrict
+access in exchange for their participation. We must stand firm, and
+reject any deal that is inconsistent with the ultimate goal. We are
+in no hurry, and there is no sense in getting to the wrong place a few
+years sooner.
</p>
-<h4>Permit mirror sites.</h4>
+<h5>Permit mirror sites.</h5>
<p>
When information is available on the web only at one site, its
-availability is vulnerable. A local problem—a computer crash, an
-earthquake or flood, a budget cut, a change in policy of the school
-administration—could cut off access for everyone forever. To guard
-against loss of the encyclopedia's material, we should make sure that
-every piece of the encyclopedia is available from many sites on the
-Internet, and that new copies can be put up if some disappear.
+availability is vulnerable. A local problem—a computer crash,
+an earthquake or flood, a budget cut, a change in policy of the school
+administration—could cut off access for everyone forever. To
+guard against loss of the encyclopedia's material, we should make sure
+that every piece of the encyclopedia is available from many sites on
+the Internet, and that new copies can be put up if some disappear.
</p>
+
<p>
There is no need to set up an organization or a bureaucracy to do
-this, because Internet users like to set up "mirror sites" which hold
-duplicate copies of interesting web pages. What we must do in advance
-is ensure that this is legally permitted.
+this, because Internet users like to set up “mirror sites”
+which hold duplicate copies of interesting web pages. What we must do
+in advance is ensure that this is legally permitted.
</p>
+
<p>
Therefore, each encyclopedia article and each course should explicitly
grant irrevocable permission for anyone to make verbatim copies
available on mirror sites. This permission should be one of the basic
stated principles of the free encyclopedia.
</p>
+
<p>
Some day there may be systematic efforts to ensure that each article
-and course is replicated in many copies—perhaps at least once on each
-of the six inhabited continents. This would be a natural extension of
-the mission of archiving that libraries undertake today. But it would
-be premature to make formal plans for this now. It is sufficient for
-now to resolve to make sure people have permission to do this
-mirroring when they get around to it.
+and course is replicated in many copies—perhaps at least once on
+each of the six inhabited continents. This would be a natural
+extension of the mission of archiving that libraries undertake today.
+But it would be premature to make formal plans for this now. It is
+sufficient for now to resolve to make sure people have permission to
+do this mirroring when they get around to it.
</p>
-<h4>Permit translation into other languages.</h4>
+<h5>Permit translation into other languages.</h5>
<p>
People will have a use for encyclopedia material on each topic in
-every human language. But the primary language of the Internet—as of
-the world of commerce and science today—is English. Most likely,
-encyclopedia contributions in English will run ahead of other
-languages, and the encyclopedia will approach completeness in English
-first.
+every human language. But the primary language of the
+Internet—as of the world of commerce and science today—is
+English. Most likely, encyclopedia contributions in English will run
+ahead of other languages, and the encyclopedia will approach
+completeness in English first.
</p>
+
<p>
Trying to fight this tendency would be self-defeating. The easier way
to make the encyclopedia available in all languages is by encouraging
one person to translate what another has written. In this way, each
article can be translated into many languages.
</p>
+
<p>
But if this requires explicit permission, it will be too difficult.
Therefore, we must adopt a basic rule that anyone is permitted to
@@ -303,6 +278,7 @@
attribution. Each article and each course should carry a statement
giving permission for translations.
</p>
+
<p>
To ensure accuracy of translation, the author of the original should
reserve the right to insist on corrections in a translation. A
@@ -312,6 +288,7 @@
translator should continue to make corrections at the author's
request, whenever the author asks for them.
</p>
+
<p>
In time, as the number of people involved in encyclopedia activity
increases, contributors may form Translation Accuracy Societies for
@@ -323,7 +300,7 @@
translation will be checked by someone other than the translator.
</p>
-<h4>Permit quotation with attribution.</h4>
+<h5>Permit quotation with attribution.</h5>
<p>
Each encyclopedia article or course should permit anyone to quote
@@ -331,44 +308,44 @@
proper attribution is given. This will make it possible to build on
the work others have done, without the need to completely replace it.
</p>
+
<p>
-Different authors may—if they care—set different rules for what
-constitutes proper attribution to them; that is ok. As long as the
-rules set for a particular work are not unreasonable or impractical,
-they will cause no problem.
+Different authors may—if they care—set different rules for
+what constitutes proper attribution to them; that is ok. As long as
+the rules set for a particular work are not unreasonable or
+impractical, they will cause no problem.
</p>
-<h4>
-Permit modified versions of courses.
-</h4>
+<h5>Permit modified versions of courses.</h5>
<p>
Courses must evolve, and the original authors won't keep working on
them forever. And teachers will want to adapt course materials to
their own curriculum plans and teaching methods. Since courses will
typically be large (like a textbook today), it would be unacceptably
-wasteful to tell teachers, "Write your own from scratch, if you want
-to change this".
+wasteful to tell teachers, “Write your own from scratch, if you
+want to change this”.
</p>
+
<p>
Therefore, modifying an existing course must be permitted; each course
should carry a statement giving permission to publish a modified
version.
</p>
+
<p>
It makes sense to require modified versions to carry proper
attribution giving credit to the authors of the previous version, and
be labelled clearly as modified, so that there is no confusion about
whose views they present.
</p>
+
<p>
-The GNU Free Documentation License would be a good license to use
-for courses.
+The GNU Free Documentation License would be a good license to use for
+courses.
</p>
-<h4>
-Permit modified versions of pictures and videos, for courses.
-</h4>
+<h5>Permit modified versions of pictures and videos, for courses.</h5>
<p>
Pictures and videos, both drawn and photographic, will play an
@@ -378,12 +355,14 @@
features. Using false color can help make certain aspects easier to
see. Image enhancement is also possible.
</p>
+
<p>
Beyond that, an altered version of a picture could illustrate a
different but related idea. You could start with a diagram useful for
one theorem in geometry, and add to it, to produce a diagram that is
relevant to another theorem.
</p>
+
<p>
Permission to modify pictures and videos is particularly important
because the alternative, to make your own picture or video from
@@ -391,32 +370,35 @@
own text, to convey certain facts from your own angle, but doing the
same thing with a picture is not feasible.
</p>
+
<p>
Of course, modified versions of pictures and videos should be labeled
as modified, to prevent misattribution of their contents, and should
give credit properly to the original.
</p>
-<h4>Only free software in the encyclopedia.</h4>
+<h5>Only free software in the encyclopedia.</h5>
<p>
-Articles, and especially courses, will often include software—for
-example, to display a simulation of a chemical reaction, or teach you
-how often to stir a sauce so it won't burn. To ensure that the
-encyclopedia is indeed free, all software included in articles and
-courses should meet the criteria of free software
-(http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) and open source software
-(http://www.opensource.org).
+Articles, and especially courses, will often include
+software—for example, to display a simulation of a chemical
+reaction, or teach you how often to stir a sauce so it won't burn. To
+ensure that the encyclopedia is indeed free, all software included in
+articles and courses should meet the criteria
+of <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>
+and <a href="http://www.opensource.org";>open source software</a>.
</p>
-<h4>No central control.</h4>
+<h5>No central control.</h5>
<p>
-People often suggest that "quality control" is essential for an
-encyclopedia, and ask what sort of "governing board" will decide which
-articles to accept as part of the free encyclopedia. The answer is,
-"no one". We cannot afford to let anyone have such control.
+People often suggest that “quality control” is essential
+for an encyclopedia, and ask what sort of “governing
+board” will decide which articles to accept as part of the free
+encyclopedia. The answer is, “no one”. We cannot afford
+to let anyone have such control.
</p>
+
<p>
If the free encyclopedia is a success, it will become so ubiquitous
and important that we dare not allow any organization to decide what
@@ -424,6 +406,7 @@
people would seek to politicize or corrupt it, and could easily
succeed.
</p>
+
<p>
The only solution to that problem is not to have any such
organization, and reject the idea of centralized quality control.
@@ -432,26 +415,28 @@
consider it an article. If a page meets the criteria for a course,
then we can consider it a course.
</p>
+
<p>
But what some pages are erroneous, or even deceptive? We cannot
assume this won't happen. But the corrective is for other articles to
-point out the error. Instead of having "quality control" by one
-privileged organization, we will have review by various groups, which
-will earn respect by their own policies and actions. In a world where
-no one is infallible, this is the best we can do.
+point out the error. Instead of having “quality control”
+by one privileged organization, we will have review by various groups,
+which will earn respect by their own policies and actions. In a world
+where no one is infallible, this is the best we can do.
</p>
-<h4>Encourage peer review and endorsements.</h4>
+<h5>Encourage peer review and endorsements.</h5>
<p>
There will be no single organization in charge of what to include in
the encyclopedia or the learning resource, no one that can be lobbied
-to exclude "creation science" or holocaust denial (or, by the same
-token, lobbied to exclude evolution or the history of Nazi death
-camps). Where there is controversy, multiple views will be
+to exclude “creation science” or holocaust denial (or, by
+the same token, lobbied to exclude evolution or the history of Nazi
+death camps). Where there is controversy, multiple views will be
represented. So it will be useful for readers to be able to see who
endorses or has reviewed a given article's version of the subject.
</p>
+
<p>
In fields such as science, engineering, and history, there are formal
standards of peer review. We should encourage authors of articles and
@@ -460,6 +445,7 @@
names in the field for permission to cite their endorsement in the
article or course.
</p>
+
<p>
A peer-review endorsement applies to one version of a work, not to
modified versions. Therefore, when a course has peer-review
@@ -469,7 +455,7 @@
version.)
</p>
-<h4>No catalogue, yet.</h4>
+<h5>No catalogue, yet.</h5>
<p>
When the encyclopedia is well populated, catalogues will be very
@@ -481,12 +467,14 @@
be interested in the encyclopedia to provide the manpower to do the
work.
</p>
+
<p>
Since no one organization will be in charge of the encyclopedia, there
cannot be one authoritative catalogue. Instead, anyone will be free
to make a catalogue, just as anyone is free to provide peer review.
Cataloguers will gain respect according to their decisions.
</p>
+
<p>
Encyclopedia pages will surely be listed in ordinary web search sites,
and perhaps those are the only catalogues that will be needed. But
@@ -494,6 +482,7 @@
modification—that is, the criteria for courses should apply to
catalogues as well.
</p>
+
<p>
What can usefully be done from the beginning is to report new
encyclopedia articles to a particular site, which can record their
@@ -502,23 +491,25 @@
for this.
</p>
-<h4>Making links to other pages.</h4>
+<h5>Making links to other pages.</h5>
<p>
The last and most important rule for pages in the encyclopedia is the
-exclusionary rule:
-<blockquote>
+exclusionary rule:</p>
+<blockquote><p>
If a page on the web covers subject matter that ought to be in the
encyclopedia or the course library, but its license is too
restricted to qualify, we must not make links to it from
encyclopedia articles or from courses.
-</blockquote>
+</p></blockquote>
+<p>
This rule will make sure we respect our own rules, in the same way
that the exclusionary rule for evidence is supposed to make police
respect their own rules: by not allowing us to treat work which fails
to meet the criteria as if it did meet them.
</p>
+
<p>
The idea of the World Wide Web is that links tie various separate
pages into a larger whole. So when encyclopedia articles or courses
@@ -528,6 +519,7 @@
whatsoever, we have to base our actions on them, by not incorporating
a page into our network of pages if it doesn't fit the criteria.
</p>
+
<p>
When a topic ought to be covered in the encyclopedia or with a course,
but it isn't, we must make sure we don't forget that we have a gap.
@@ -537,6 +529,7 @@
about the same topic—one that is free enough to be part of the
encyclopedia. Eventually, one of us will do the job.
</p>
+
<p>
On the other hand, many web pages cover material that wouldn't
normally be included in an encyclopedia—for example, scholarly
@@ -547,46 +540,51 @@
the encyclopedia. So there is no need to apply the encyclopedia
criteria in making links to such pages.
</p>
+
<p>
To produce a complete encyclopedia which satisfies the principles of
freedom stated here will take a long time, but we will get it done
-eventually—as long as we remember the goal. The greatest danger is
-that we will lose sight of the goal and settle for less. The
+eventually—as long as we remember the goal. The greatest danger
+is that we will lose sight of the goal and settle for less. The
exclusionary rule will make sure we keep going all the way.
</p>
-<h4>Uphold the freedom to contribute.</h4>
+<h5>Uphold the freedom to contribute.</h5>
<p>
As education moves on-line and is increasingly commercialized,
teachers are in danger of losing even the right to make their work
freely available to the public. Some universities have tried to claim
ownership over on-line materials produced by teachers, to turn it into
-commercial "courseware" with restricted use. Meanwhile, other
-universities have outsourced their on-line services to corporations,
-some of which claim to own all materials posted on the university web
-sites.
+commercial “courseware” with restricted use. Meanwhile,
+other universities have outsourced their on-line services to
+corporations, some of which claim to own all materials posted on the
+university web sites.
</p>
+
<p>
It will be up to professors to resist this tendency. But there is
more than one way to do so. The most obvious basis for objection is
-to say, "I own this work, and I, not the university, have the right to
-sell it to a company if I wish". But that places the faculty on the
-same selfish moral level as the university, so that neither side has a
-moral advantage in the argument.
+to say, “I own this work, and I, not the university, have the
+right to sell it to a company if I wish”. But that places the
+faculty on the same selfish moral level as the university, so that
+neither side has a moral advantage in the argument.
</p>
+
<p>
-If, on the other hand, professors say, "I want to be able to make my
-work fully available to the public without restriction," they occupy
-the commanding moral position, which a university can oppose only by
-setting itself against the public, against learning, and against
-scholarship.
+If, on the other hand, professors say, “I want to be able to
+make my work fully available to the public without restriction,”
+they occupy the commanding moral position, which a university can
+oppose only by setting itself against the public, against learning,
+and against scholarship.
</p>
+
<p>
Resisting the selling of the university will not be easy. Professors
-had better make use of any advantage they can find—especially moral
-advantages.
+had better make use of any advantage they can find—especially
+moral advantages.
</p>
+
<p>
Two other points that will help are that (1) a few prestigious
universities will probably gobble up most of the commercial business,
@@ -596,7 +594,7 @@
most lucrative parts of the field.
</p>
-<h3>Spread the word.</h3>
+<h4>Spread the word.</h4>
<p>
When you post a potential encyclopedia article or a course, you can
@@ -605,77 +603,42 @@
</p>
-<h2><a name="worksinprogress">Works in Progress</a></h2>
-
-<p><a href="#TOC">Back to the Table of Contents</a></p>
+<h3>Works in Progress</h3>
<p>
Here is a small (and probably incomplete) list of free encyclopedias:
+</p>
<ul>
- <li><a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/";>Wikipedia</a></li>
+<li><a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/";>Wikipedia</a></li>
</ul>
-</p>
-<!--
- * If needed, change the copyright block at the bottom. In general, all pages
- on the GNU web server should have the section about verbatim
- copying. Please do NOT remove this without talking with the webmasters
- first.
--->
-<P>
-<HR>
-
-<div class="translations">
-<p><a id="translations"></a>
-<b>Translations of this page</b>:<br />
-
-
-[
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-<!-- PLEASE UPDATE THE LIST AT THE BOTTOM (OR TOP) OF THE PAGE TOO! -->
- <A HREF="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.html">English</A>
-| <A HREF="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.it.html">Italian</A>
-<!-- | A HREF="/boilerplate.LG.html" LANGUAGE /A -->
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-
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-<div class="copyright">
-
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-Return to <A HREF="/home.html">GNU's home page</A>.
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-
-<p>
-Please send inquiries about GNU and the FSF to
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-
-<pre>
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- 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor Fax: +1-617-542-2652
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-</pre>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
<p>
-Please send broken links and other web page corrections (or suggestions) to
-<a href="mailto:address@hidden";>address@hidden</a>
+Please send FSF & GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF.
+<br />
+Please send broken links and other corrections or suggestions to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
</p>
<p>
Please see the
<a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting
-translations.
+translations of this article.
</p>
<p>
-Copyright 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 Free Software Foundation,
-Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
-
-<P>
+Copyright © 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 Free
+Software Foundation, Inc.
+</p>
+<p>
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted
in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
</p>
@@ -683,9 +646,40 @@
<p>
Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2008/06/25 16:59:41 $
+$Date: 2009/01/22 14:40:21 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>
-</BODY>
-</HTML>
+
+<div id="translations">
+<h4>Translations of this page</h4>
+
+<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical by language code. -->
+<!-- Comment what the language is for each type, i.e. de is German. -->
+<!-- Write the language name in its own language (Deutsch) in the text. -->
+<!-- If you add a new language here, please -->
+<!-- advise address@hidden and add it to -->
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+<!-- - one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway" -->
+<!-- - if there is a translation team, you also have to add an alias -->
+<!-- to mail.gnu.org:/com/mailer/aliases -->
+<!-- Please also check you have the language code right; see: -->
+<!-- http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php -->
+<!-- If the 2-letter ISO 639-1 code is not available, -->
+<!-- use the 3-letter ISO 639-2. -->
+<!-- Please use W3C normative character entities. -->
+
+<ul class="translations-list">
+<!-- Gemran -->
+<li><a
href="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.de.html">Deutsch</a> [de]</li>
+<!-- English -->
+<li><a href="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.html">English</a> [en]</li>
+<!-- Spanish -->
+<li><a
href="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.es.html">español</a> [es]</li>
+<!-- Italian -->
+<li><a
href="/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.it.html">italiano</a> [it]</li>
+</ul>
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