MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-01-27 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] [OT] RMS talk in India
|
Are you coming with us on Friday Morning?
Ruben
On Mon, Jan 26, 2004 at 05:56:39PM -0500, akbar wrote:
>
> Stallman cautions Government of Kerala
> --------------------------------------
>
> Richard M Stallman was speaking at Thrissur in Kerala on Jan 22. RMS, as
> he is popularly known in the Internet world (rms-at-gnu.org), was here
> after attending World Social Forum at Mumbai.
>
> Free Software, he said had four levels of freedom. At Freedom Level '0',
> it allowed anyone to use the software for any purpose. RMS added that
> this freedom was offered by most of the proprietary software also.
>
> At Freedom Level '1', he said Free software allowed anyone to study the
> source code. This freedom is not there in the non-free proprietary
> world. Source code never accompanies non-free proprietary softwares. Its
> is even never released. RMS informed that there were numerous instances
> in the past when companies would use their popular software to spy on
> users. He informed that earlier whenever a Windows XP user went on-line,
> the Operating System would inform Microsoft, details of whatever
> software was on the hard-disk of the user. "When this issue became a
> debating issue, Microsoft quietly removed this feature. But only to
> return after a gap. This time the details are encrypted and sent, so
> that no one get to know of this". RMS added that even some freeware
> (proprietary software that doesn't come with source code) available on
> the Internet like RealPlayer also does this.
>
> At Freedom Level '2', RMS said that it allowed anyone freedom to modify
> the code. "You are not at the mercy of the company who sold you the
> product. You are not helpless here. When you observe some malfunctioning
> or you need a feature added to it, you are forced to contact the
> software provider. In free software, you yourself can make the
> modification if you have those skills, or can approach a technical
> programmer nearby to have it fixed for you. Remember, you may have to
> pay him for this service." Free software is not non-commercial, RMS
> added, and said that he himself had been selling CDs in the initial
> stages when he set out to create a world class Operating System. He had
> worked alone, after he quit his job at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab
> in 1978, disgusted over AT&T's move to make UNIX operating system,
> proprietary. By 1984, he established the Free Software Foundation, who
> would fund the development activities for reaching the goal of
> presenting the global citizen a Free Operating System.
>
> At Freedom Level '3', the user of a free software could share his
> software with his friend or neighbour. "In proprietary software world,
> this is a crime. Isn't this practice that tells you not to share
> anything with anyone, an evil ? Way back, when I started out on my
> mission, everyone had this kind of culture, where sharing and
> co-operation was the mark of the day. I had convinced myself on the need
> to carry this culture ahead, in my programme." This is where Free
> Software pushes every other software behind, he said. "This movement,
> this Free Software Foundation's movement is based on certain core values
> centred around social, political and ethical issues, and is not merely
> making available software free of cost. It is a political movement and
> looks at the ethical issues." RMS heavily cautioned against using
> proprietary software in schools, even if it were available at a cheaper
> price or free of cost. "Its like tobacco companies giving away free
> cigarettes to children. Their motive is totally different. You have to
> take this aspect into notice." The packed hall at John Mathai Centre at
> Thrissur listened to the great crusader of justice in the software world
> in rapt attention. "Even if the company offers such solutions free of
> cost, they may charge later for its upgrades. You need to watch out, be
> very careful here. Would you want such a generation of citizens here, in
> this part of the world?"
>
> Governments the world over are beginning to appreciate the dangers that
> accompany proprietary software and are bringing in legislation to curb
> the tendencies in Public Institutions. "This is however not the case
> with your Goverment of Kerala. Let me tell you, they have already
> computerised most of their programmes in the Departments of Finance and
> Local Self Governments on proprietary non-free software. You have to
> resist this move. This is not in the interest of the Citizens here. You
> got to tell this to your Government. Most of the other departments would
> need to interact with these departments, at a later stage. Moreover,
> when the Government makes the decision, it is slipping into a state of
> helplessness, as later on, it will be dependant on the company to make
> any alterations or modifications, even if you have the technical skills
> to do it yourself. You are losing your independence. Your freedom is
> highly compromised when you use software whose source code is held
> secret. Anything can happen. Things can be controlled from remote,
> without your knowledge ,using spy code. For public enterprises, this is
> not in good taste. This has to be converted into a political issue."
>
> "Moreover, when you are using non-standard and non-free formats of
> storing data, you are becoming totally dependant on the supplier. The
> Government has to make considerable investment in this area,
> immediately, without losing any more time. The more the time lapse, the
> greater would be the level of dependance and the cost of migrating back
> to free software. In case you need my help, let me tell you, the FSF
> people in India are there to offer any kind of technical help." RMS
> cautioned the designs that are taking shape across the globe to bring in
> a kind of "electronic colonisation". "There are people planning to do
> wrong things. You are a world citizen now. You got to resist this
> tendency at every level possible."
>
> RMS also answered to a volley of questions on issues that confronted
> free software elsewhere. SCO had sued IBM against using GNU Linux that
> it said was using pieces of its own code. "I don't think SCO is going to
> win. The judge has given SCO just one month time to point out exactly
> those parts of the code in the Linux kernel, that it finds
> objectionable. I don't think SCO would be able to do this. Even if they
> succeed, there is no reason for any panic, the maintainers of the kernel
> would come out with appropriate fixes. It would be another opportunity
> for the maintainers to show their programming skills."
>
> "Let me tell you that Linux is not the only kernel which is there on GNU
> platform. There is also the Hurd kernel, used by GNU Hurd operating
> system." "When I started, my mission had been to build a complete
> operating system, which I would be calling GNU, acronym for GNU's Not
> Unix. Most of the components for the GNU were completed, except for a
> small portion, the kernel, without which we couldn't launch the product.
> In 1991 Linus Torvalds had built a kernel, that was the only part which
> was missing. Linus didn't inform us, he just searched the net to find
> all our products that we were giving as free software under the copyleft
> and took it and completed. This was an unethical move by Torvalds. He
> should have informed us."
>
> On a question on which distributor of GNU Linux is preferred, RMS said
> that "most distributors include non-free software along with free
> software. This is not good. To me, I think Debian version is totally
> free. It doesn't have any non-free software. The Debian license
> explicity maintains this stand. However among other variants, I think
> Red Hat and Mandrake are committing fewer mistakes, fewer errors. Red
> Hat and Mandrake doesn't produce non-free software. They are not
> involved. Red Hat in fact produces free software. Companies like Suse
> produces non-free software. This is wrong."
>
> RMS, left the hall apparently not being able to cope up with the high
> level of humidity. "I am not used to working in this kind of
> environment. Its too hot. Your country is too hot for me." RMS shook
> hands with everyone who came forward and posed for photographs. In his
> iterinary, RMS would be also meeting the leader of Opposition of the
> Kerala Legislative Assembly, apart from giving a few more lectures
> during course of his tour.
>
> -----------------
> CK Raju
>
>
>
> ____________________________
> NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
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