● 11.10.10

●● Linux and ‘Open’ Core

Posted in GNU/Linux, Kernel at 4:56 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: A quick word about the suggestions that Linux is “proprietary”, which helps some FUD-Meisters

Without delving into the specifics and the hyperlinks (deliberately omitted), there’s a debate right now about whether Linux is Free software or proprietary (or both). It is probably not the best question to ask. Linux — like Android — enables many people to move from a world that is purely proprietary into a world where freedom is favoured and companies adapt gradually, eventually realising that by making their program code (e.g. drivers) publicly available they get a lot of ‘free’ bug fixes and improved stability. This is true not just in Linux but in other layers of the system, even hardware. So, Techrights will not get involved in the counter-productive debate which at the moment just feeds enemies of freedom (they use Linux as ‘proof’ that free/open source software cannot succeed). Even the FSF learned to abstain from talking about it like that. █

“Today many people are switching to free software for purely practical reasons. That is good, as far as it goes, but that isn’t all we need to do! Attracting users to free software is not the whole job, just the first step.”

–Richard Stallman

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