📄 00000005.htm
字号:
<BR> And above all society needs to encourage the spirit of voluntary <BR>cooperation in its citizens. When software owners tell <BR> us that helping our neighbors in a natural way is ``piracy'', they <BR>pollute our society's civic spirit. <BR> <BR> This is why we say that free software is a matter of freedom, not <BR>price. <BR> <BR> The economic argument for owners is erroneous, but the economic issue <BR>is real. Some people write useful software for <BR> the pleasure of writing it or for admiration and love; but if we want <BR>more software than those people write, we need to <BR> raise funds. <BR> <BR> For ten years now, free software developers have tried various methods <BR>of finding funds, with some success. There's no <BR> need to make anyone rich; the median US family income, around $35k, <BR>proves to be enough incentive for many jobs that <BR> are less satisfying than programming. <BR> <BR> For years, until a fellowship made it unnecessary, I made a living <BR>from custom enhancements of the free software I had <BR> written. Each enhancement was added to the standard released version <BR>and thus eventually became available to the <BR> general public. Clients paid me so that I would work on the <BR>enhancements they wanted, rather than on the features I <BR> would otherwise have considered highest priority. <BR> <BR> The Free Software Foundation (FSF), a tax-exempt charity for free <BR>software development, raises funds by selling GNU <BR> CD-ROMs, T-shirts, manuals, and deluxe distributions, (all of which <BR>users are free to copy and change), as well as <BR> from donations. It now has a staff of five programmers, plus three <BR>employees who handle mail orders. <BR> <BR> Some free software developers make money by selling support services. <BR>Cygnus Solutions, with around 50 employees <BR> [now 100 in 1997], estimates that about 15 per cent of its staff <BR>activity is free software development---a respectable <BR> percentage for a software company. <BR> <BR> Companies including Intel, Motorola, Texas Instruments and Analog <BR>Devices have combined to fund the continued <BR> development of the free GNU compiler for the language C. Meanwhile, <BR>the GNU compiler for the Ada language is <BR> being funded by the US Air Force, which believes this is the most <BR>cost-effective way to get a high quality compiler. <BR> [Air Force funding ended some time ago; the GNU Ada Compiler is now in <BR>service, and its maintenance is funded <BR> commercially.] <BR> <BR> All these examples are small; the free software movement is still <BR>small, and still young. But the example of <BR> listener-supported radio in this country [the US] shows it's possible <BR>to support a large activity without forcing each user <BR> to pay. <BR> <BR>As a computer user today, you may find yourself using a proprietary (18k <BR>characters) program. If your friend asks to make a <BR>copy, it would be wrong to refuse. Cooperation is more important than <BR>copyright. But underground, closet cooperation does <BR>not make for a good society. A person should aspire to live an upright <BR>life openly with pride, and this means saying ``No'' to <BR>proprietary software. <BR> <BR>You deserve to be able to cooperate openly and freely with other people <BR>who use software. You deserve to be able to learn <BR>how the software works, and to teach your students with it. You deserve to <BR>be able to hire your favorite programmer to fix it <BR>when it breaks. <BR> <BR>You deserve free software. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>Other Texts to Read <BR> <BR>This first group of articles directly address the philosophy of the GNU <BR>project and free software: <BR> <BR> What is Free Software? <BR> Why Software Should Not Have Owners <BR> Selling Free Software Can Be Ok! <BR> Categories of Free Software (18k characters) <BR> Free software is more reliable! <BR> What is the Free Software Foundation? <BR> What is Copyleft? <BR> Confusing Words which You Might Want to Avoid <BR> History of the GNU Project <BR> The GNU Manifesto (31k characters) <BR> Why there are no GIF files on GNU web pages <BR> <BR>This second group of articles deal with related topics but are not <BR>directly about the GNU project: <BR> <BR> How to Protect the Right to Write Software (independent of whether <BR>it's free or not) <BR> Where the Copyright System and Government Plans are Leading Us <BR> The Right Way to Tax DAT (22k characters) <BR> Studies Find Reward Often No Motivator <BR> A speech that Richard Stallman gave in 1986 at the Royal Institute of <BR>Technology in Sweden <BR> How to Protect the Freedoms of Speech, Press, and Association on the <BR>Internet <BR> <BR> <BR>-- <BR> <BR> 信言不美,美言不信。 <BR> 善者不辩,辩者不善。 <BR> 知者不博,博者不知。 <BR> <<老子.道德经>>八十一章 <BR> <BR>※ 修改:·yuhj 於 Aug 14 00:15:18 修改本文·[FROM: 166.111.68.120] <BR>※ 来源:·BBS 水木清华站 bbs.net.tsinghua.edu.cn·[FROM: 166.111.68.120] <BR><CENTER><H1>BBS水木清华站∶精华区</H1></CENTER></BODY></HTML>
⌨️ 快捷键说明
复制代码
Ctrl + C
搜索代码
Ctrl + F
全屏模式
F11
切换主题
Ctrl + Shift + D
显示快捷键
?
增大字号
Ctrl + =
减小字号
Ctrl + -