www/philosophy social-inertia.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /webcvs/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       09/09/27 01:15:26

Modified files:
        philosophy     : social-inertia.html 

Log message:
        Clarifications, some from jrasata.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/social-inertia.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.8&r2=1.9

Patches:
Index: social-inertia.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/philosophy/social-inertia.html,v
retrieving revision 1.8
retrieving revision 1.9
diff -u -b -r1.8 -r1.9
--- social-inertia.html 16 Nov 2008 23:29:48 -0000      1.8
+++ social-inertia.html 27 Sep 2009 01:15:22 -0000      1.9
@@ -7,53 +7,58 @@
 Stallman</strong></a></p>
 
 <p>
-15 years have passed since the combination of GNU and Linux first made
-it possible to use a PC in freedom.  During that time, we have come a
-long way.  You can even buy a laptop with GNU/Linux preinstalled from
-more than one hardware vendor, although the systems they ship are not
+Almost two decades have passed since the combination of GNU and Linux first 
made
+it possible to use a PC in freedom.  We have come a long way since then.  Now 
you can even buy a laptop with GNU/Linux preinstalled from
+more than one hardware vendor&mdash;although the systems they ship are not
 entirely free software.  So what holds us back from total success?</p>
 
 <p>
 The main obstacle to the triumph of software freedom is social
-inertia.  You have surely seen its many forms.  Many commercial web
-sites are only accessible with Windows.  The BBC's iPlayer handcuffware
-runs only on Windows.  If you value short-term convenience instead of
-freedom, you might consider these reasons to use Windows.  Most
-companies currently use Windows, so students who think short-term want
-to learn Windows, and ask schools to teach Windows, which they do,
-thus leading many other students to use Windows.  Microsoft actively
-nurtures this inertia: it encourages schools to inculcate dependency
-on Windows, and contracts to set up web sites, which then turn out to
-work only with Internet Explorer.</p>
+inertia.  It exists in many forms, and you have surely seen some of
+them.  Examples include devices that only work on Windows, commercial
+Web sites accessible only with Windows, and the BBC's iPlayer
+handcuffware, which runs only on Windows.  If you value short-term
+convenience instead of freedom, you might consider these reason enough
+to use Windows.  Most companies currently run Windows, so students who
+think short-term want to learn how to use it and ask their schools to
+teach it.  Schools teach Windows, produce graduates that are used to
+using Windows, and this encourages businesses to use Windows.</p>
+
+<p>Microsoft actively nurtures this inertia: it encourages schools to
+inculcate dependency on Windows, and contracts to set up Web sites
+that then turn out to work only with Internet Explorer.</p>
 
 <p>
 A few years ago, Microsoft ads argued that Windows was cheaper to run
 than GNU/Linux.  Their comparisons were debunked, but it is worth
-noting the deeper flaw that their arguments reduce to social inertia:
-&ldquo;Currently, more technical people know Windows than
-GNU/Linux.&rdquo;  People that value their freedom would not give it up
-to save money, but many business executives believe ideologically that
-everything they possess, even their freedom, should be for sale.</p>
+noting the deeper flaw in their argument, the implicit premise which
+cites a form of social inertia: &ldquo;Currently, more technical
+people know Windows than GNU/Linux.&rdquo; People who value their
+freedom would not give it up to save money, but many business
+executives believe ideologically that everything they possess, even
+their freedom, should be for sale.</p>
+
+<p>
+Social inertia consists of people who have given in to social inertia.
+When you surrender to social inertia, you become part of the pressure
+it exerts on others; when you resist it, you reduce it.  We conquer
+social inertia by identifying it, and resolving not to be part of
+it.</p>
 
 <p>
-Social inertia consists of people giving in to social inertia.  When
-you give in to social inertia, you become part of it; when you resist
-it, you reduce it.  We conquer inertia by identifying it, and
-resolving not to be part of it.</p>
-
-<p>
-Here is where the philosophical weakness of most of our community
-holds us back.  Most GNU/Linux users have never even heard the ideas
+Here a weakness holds our community back: most GNU/Linux
+users have never even heard the ideas
 of freedom that motivated the development of GNU, so they still judge
 matters based on short-term convenience rather than on their freedom.
-This makes them vulnerable to being led by the nose, through social
-inertia.</p>
+This makes them vulnerable to being led by the nose by social
+inertia, so that they become part of the inertia.</p>
 
 <p>
-To change this, we need to talk about free software and freedom
-&mdash; not merely practical benefits such as cited by open source.
-Thus we can build our community's strength and resolve to overcome
-social inertia.</p>
+To build our community's strength to resist, we need to talk about
+free software and freedom&mdash;not merely about the practical
+benefits that open source supporters cite.  As more people recognize
+what they need to do to overcome the inertia, we will make more
+progress.</p>
 
 </div>
 
@@ -88,7 +93,7 @@
 <p>
 Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2008/11/16 23:29:48 $
+$Date: 2009/09/27 01:15:22 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>