FOSS------Showing Windows the door!!

LETS GET THE BASICS RIGHT...

The simplest way to define FOSS is that it is software whose source code is freely available to be used, copied and modified. FOSS software programs can be proprietary or non-proprietary, and can be used for commercial or nonprofit purposes.

(THIS DEFINITION, KEEPING IN SPIRIT WITH ITS TOPIC, WAS BORROWED FROM AN OPEN SOURCE...DYSPHEMISTICALLY SPEAKING-"plagiarized" :D)

>ON A ROLL>>.....

FOSS is really causing a surge throughout the globe.

One of the most widely used Web server programs in the world (Apache), one of the dominant Web programming languages (Perl), the program that routes more than 80 percent of all Internet email messages worldwide (Sendmail), the program that is the basis for the domain name system (BIND), and the fastest growing operating system in the world (Linux) are all open source.

. . .Admit that the waters around you have grown

And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone. . .

You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone. . .

OPEN SOURCE didn't grow by cover stories or paid advertising to revolutionize the software world, as it does today. On the other hand, proprietary software companies like Microsoft has been working hard to disrupt a movement which could challenge their entire software model...and more.

They chant their (proprietary software interests-oriented) "Shared Source" concept that doesn't come anywhere near the concepts or the spirit of the global FOSS movement.

The finer details-FREE Vs OPEN...

The term "Free" software means that the licensee has the freedom to run, modify and distribute the software. However, "Free" does not necessarily mean "without cost".

As our "thala" Richard Stallman has explained:

Since "free" refers to freedom, not to price, there is no contradiction between selling copies and free software. In fact, the freedom to sell copies is crucial: collections of free software sold on CD-ROMs are important for the community, and selling them is an important way to raise funds for free software development. Therefore, a program that people are not free to include on these collections is not free software.

At the FSF’s website where its philosophy and definition of free software is provided, the FSF clarifies that one should think "free speech, not free beer"

(IF ALL TAT SOUNDED A LIL TOO TECHNICAL,ITS only COS IT WAS INTENDED TO BE..)

THE SPIRIT OF FOSS:

I will not be explaining the four freedoms of the Free Software Foundation and the principles of the Open Source Initiative here (tis isn't a textbook u see). What I will focus on instead are the underlying human motivational principles of developing social or community oriented software for human benefit at large.

Whether we are software designers and developers, humanitarian aid workers, United Nation's folks (that is, the pro-FOSS group and not the anti-FOSS group), members of development organizations and global forums, academia, researchers, groups or individual enthusiasts, we all want to make a positive difference to the people in the world around us with the aid of science and Science is ultimately an Open Source enterprise.

Thus, the above ideology helps us understand that Free and Open Source Software is a result of Freedom. If we let others decide what software we should use, we are not seizing our own Freedoms, like our own human rights.

Should we opt for the EULA(End User Licensing Agreement) or EULAS(Enabling Users Legal Access to Source) is hardly even a logical thing to ask.. Its like a waiter asking-"Sir, u'd like to have poison or pizza??"

Finally,THE PENGUIN IN ME :)

What drives me is the ability to understand and practise my choices, rights and freedom and to accept that others can share my FREEDOMS as they share the air I breathe, the water I drink, the food I eat, the education I receive. They share the same humanity that composes me into the human being I am and that is my motivation, my inspiration, my spirit........

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PS-----You're probably viewing this page on MOZILLA :D :)