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Interview with Simon Phipps (Linux Journal)
Glyn Moody talks with
Simon Phipps about the open-source roots of Sun and the GPL-ization of
Java. "Before joining Sun in 2001, Simon Phipps spent ten years at
IBM, where he was Chief Java and XML Evangelist. He first came across free
software in the late 1980s, when he was selling freeware from home as a
sideline while working at Unisys. Today, Phipps is Sun's Chief Open Source
Officer, and he plays a key role as the company moves its entire software
portfolio to open source."
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Interview with Simon Phipps (Linux Journal) Posted May 8, 2007 14:32 UTC (Tue) by hmh (subscriber, #3838) [Link] ...when he was selling freeware from home... You cannot sell freeware. Shareware, yes. Freeware, no.
Interview with Simon Phipps (Linux Journal) Posted May 8, 2007 14:35 UTC (Tue) by sanjoy (subscriber, #5026) [Link] It depends what you mean by freeware. If you mean shareware with zero price, that's true. But if you mean free software as defined by the Free Software Foundation, selling software is explicitly allowed by all free-software licenses including the GPL.
Changing the meaning of technical terms with time Posted May 8, 2007 14:45 UTC (Tue) by hmh (subscriber, #3838) [Link] Well, I very very much hate when people get a technical term with strict definitions (freeware != libre software; freeware == software distributed with a zero price tag), and corrupt it. Shareware and freeware are very well defined. The fact that both are models of software distribution that are in heavy decline doesn't change that (and I am really happy libre software took over freeware, and made a major dent on shareware). Anyone from the old BBS days knows that the massive majority of freeware came with no source whatsoever. Freeware is not, and has never been the same as free software (FSF meaning) or libre software (english bogosity-free way of refering to FSF-style free software), AFAIK. Heck, even wikipedia gets this right...
Changing the meaning of technical terms with time Posted May 8, 2007 16:07 UTC (Tue) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] Pedantically, I'd call libre software many things (including clearer than `free software'), but English it is not, at least not yet. It's not even clear how to pronounce it (IPA doesn't work here, but, basically, long i or not? The source language, French, has different rules here than English would were it a fully-assimilated word).
Libre in English Posted May 8, 2007 23:18 UTC (Tue) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link] 'Libre' is also the Spanish word for 'free' (as in speech). We don't have long and short vowels, but I would vote for a short 'i'. To be really pedantic we would have to go to the Latin pronunciation, which I utterly ignore; but as a compromise we might settle for the English words with the same root 'liberty' and 'liberal'.
Changing the meaning of technical terms with time Posted May 8, 2007 16:17 UTC (Tue) by james (subscriber, #1325) [Link] Um.Freeware normally meant that you didn't need to pay for a license, and were free to make as many copies as you liked. It was still possible (and usually legal) for third parties to distribute copies and charge for media. This wasn't technically "selling freeware", but the distinction was often over-looked. In the days when even home computer enthusiasts didn't necessarily use dial-up services, there was a considerable trade in "shovelware" floppy disks and CDs with an array of software of differing quality and licenses. Early Linux distros fitted into their product line-up pretty well.
Changing the meaning of technical terms with time Posted May 8, 2007 16:19 UTC (Tue) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] Actually, Wikipedia says that freeware is a term that can apply, among other things, to software in public domain. Such software can be sold by everybody without limitations.In the days before fast internet connections became widespread, it could be profitable to sell freeware for the price of media plus shipping and handling plus premium. It's unclear whether Simon Phipps was actually doing that.
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