The next chapter in the Merkey saga

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 23, 2005 0:11 UTC (Thu) by rgmoore (✭ supporter ✭, #75)
In reply to: The next chapter in the Merkey saga by yodermk
Parent article: The next chapter in the Merkey saga

LOL, he just described Stallman's FSF, the archenemy of OSS!

That doesn't do a very good job of describing Stallman's views, either. RMS has quite specifically that Free Software is a matter of freedom, not of price. In the early days of GNU, RMS earned his living by selling copies of GNU software, the FSF still raises funds by distributing GNU software, and RMS encourages businesses to make money that way. Some RMS quotes on the matter (from Selling Free Software).

Actually we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can. ...

Since free software is not a matter of price, a low price isn't more free, or closer to free. So if you are redistributing copies of free software, you might as well charge a substantial fee and make some money. Redistributing free software is a good and legitimate activity; if you do it, you might as well make a profit from it. ...

Distributing free software is an opportunity to raise funds for development. Don't waste it!

(All emphasis is in the original.) Those sure don't sound like quotes from somebody who thinks that it's immoral to charge money for software.

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