Happy Software Freedom Day!

Apparently, today is the Software Freedom Day.  If you are asking yourself the question: “What is Software Freedom Day?”, the official website has an answer for you.

Software Freedom Day is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Our goal in this celebration is to educate the worldwide public about the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business — in short, everywhere!

Being a great fan of, user, and contributor to Free and Open Source Software I think that this is an excellent idea.  I also understand the benefits of always having it on a weekend day, so that meetings could be organized easier.  But I have to say that I am not a big fan of using moving dates for holidays.  It makes it difficult to remember and prepare to.  Just have a look at how popular Sysadmin Day is and that one is celebrated for years now.

Either way, happy Software Freedom Day!  If you are a contributor to Free and Open Source Software, I thank you and hope you will get more appreciation for the work you do.  If you are just a user, I hope you will find a way to contribute soon, even if that is just buying a beer to a contributor next to you.  And if you are a poor soul who haven’t heard about Free and Open Source Software, please educate yourself – you are missing out. You can start with Wikipedia pages for Free Software and Open Source Software.  If you need any help, feel free to contact me or anyone else who is already a member of the cult.  One thing is for sure though.  It doesn’t matter if you believe in Free and Open Source Software or not, if you are reading this – you’ve definitely used and benefited from it.  No?  Yes you did.  You are on the Internet, aren’t you…

On the beauty of the Free Software culture

This short post is an absolute must read.  Quote:

Still, there’s a qualitative difference between letting people download your own work from your own site, and watching other people try to profit from it. But it is precisely this difference that strikes at the heart of the Free Software/Free Culture ethos. Part of choosing a Free license for your own work is accepting that people may use it in ways you disapprove of. There are no “field of use” restrictions, and there are no “commercial use” restrictions either. In fact, those are two of the fundamental tenets of the “Free” in Free Software. If “others profiting from my work” is something you seek to avoid, then Free Software is not for you. Opt for a Creative Commons “Non-Commercial” license, or a “personal use only” freeware license, or a traditional End User License Agreement. Free Software doesn’t have “end users.” That’s kind of the point.

Via Matt.