
Forget search wars. Software market is hotting up for action, as open source community and Microsoft lock horns once again
I read this article, Free software wars re-ignite today. While this story correctly pits the Free Software model against the non-Free model, it contains several comments that need to be taken into consideration. For example:
“There is nothing called free software,” he says. In most cases, open source software charges its customer. Red Hat and Novel are example where these vendors are charging their customers for support and services.
This statement misuses the term "free software". The speaker either does not know or intentionally obscures the fact that the word "free" has nothing to do with cost. It is about freedom. It is widely known that Free Software may be distributed for a fee. The freedom to charge a fee is inherent in the four fundamental freedoms. If it wasn't, it would not be Free Software. This is just one example. What others do you see?
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Also of interest
Quite related to this is our article:
How to Misunderstand Free software:
http://www.getgnulinux.org/linux/misunderstanding_free_software/