Miscellaneous > The Lounge
How to explain Free Software to people?
piratePenguin:
"If software was music, free software would be music you're free to change at your will and redistribute without having to give money to the original author. The music is 'free'", that might work. Might be helpful to explain, too, that modifying and studying software is much more exciting than modifying music.
H_TeXMeX_H:
Maybe you can try for two definitions ... one for "less knowledgeable users" and one for people that know what source code is (more knowledgeable users). Just a thought.
Or maybe you could include a definition of source code ? then you'd only need one definition.
inane:
--- Quote from: toadlife ---Just say it's free. Not free-ware - just 'free'. People that don't even know what source code is aren't going to give a rats ass about source being avaiable or the license attached to it./QUOTE]
I think that as computers become a larger part of everyone's lives more and more people will become interested in the political motives behind the software they use so often. Not everyone and in fact NEVER everyone but any concerned or halfway intelligent person will want to know. I will agree with Toad here let em look it up if they like but come on throw them a bone, say the minimal though. You wouldn't want to scare them away.
--- End quote ---
Pathos:
People develop free software for the same reason people build cars to break speed records, cause its fun. The difference is software can be copied at no cost and the developers share ideas by releasing the source as record breaker may share ideas by explaining how their design overcame obstacles that hindered predessors.
Source code is text that both humans can understand (unlike machine code) and computers can break down into machine code (unlike english). Computers are just advanced calculators. they seem intelligent when a intelligent computer programmer writes an intelligent program that works really well.
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