A specific question which many Linux solution providers keep asking me.
The question relates to the client side applications NOT the server.
When Linux business solution providers go to Govt. organisations they are confronted with the bleak scenario of all the systems being under M$. Since their solutions are "standalone" and built with Linux libraries such as GTK, QT etc. they need invariably Linux OS. Since the organisations are reluctant to change their existing M$ platform just to accommodate their solutions (even though they liked it) they are loosing that business. What I am asking is that under these circumstances is it ethically and morally correct for them to create M$ binaries of their solution using windows versions of GTK and QT libraries and install them on the M$ platform, and there by getting the business order.
Already FSF is releasing all their libraries such as gcc, gtk etc for M$ too.
Please think as if you are a business man providing free software solutions to make money to run a free software business.
-- Rajagopal CV
Short answer. Yes. As long as we remember that the end goal is Freedom, co-operation, sharing and community.
Long answer. Ethics is not black and white. In this case, the most important question is By providing such binaries, are the solution providers encouraging participation in the FOSS ecosystem. OR are they encouraging participation in the propritary ecosystem.
In this case it seems to me that the GNU/Linux solution providers are encouraging adoption of FOSS ecosystem.
"And then you begin to experience what I know people are experiencing here and I certainly see in the States. Which is once you have moved somebody from IE to Firefox for security reasons, and from Word to Open Office for economic reasons. It then turns out that they are living in a free software environment, and you come along one day, and remove the operating system and put a new one underneath and they don't even notice that its happened. So that the gradient of fear of technological change, which was the real guarantor of the monopolies market power is being overcome." http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lecture_at_Multimedia_institute_MAMA/CARNet
http://mod.carnet.hr/hr/carnet/drustvo_znanja/eben_moglen.wmv The video is unfortunately in proprietary format, can somebody change it to open format and publish the same.
Years from now, OpenOffice will be seen as the most important contibution to the FOSS world. Because it encourages participation in the FOSS ecosystem more than any other application (yes including mozilla).
-Krishna
--- cvr3@river-valley.org wrote:
A specific question which many Linux solution providers keep asking me.
The question relates to the client side applications NOT the server.
When Linux business solution providers go to Govt. organisations they are confronted with the bleak scenario of all the systems being under M$. Since their solutions are "standalone" and built with Linux libraries such as GTK, QT etc. they need invariably Linux OS. Since the organisations are reluctant to change their existing M$ platform just to accommodate their solutions (even though they liked it) they are loosing that business. What I am asking is that under these circumstances is it ethically and morally correct for them to create M$ binaries of their solution using windows versions of GTK and QT libraries and install them on the M$ platform, and there by getting the business order.
Already FSF is releasing all their libraries such as gcc, gtk etc for M$ too.
Please think as if you are a business man providing free software solutions to make money to run a free software business.
-- Rajagopal CV
Fsf-friends mailing list Fsf-friends@mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends
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Short answer. Yes. As long as we remember that the end goal is Freedom, co-operation, sharing and community.
Long answer. Ethics is not black and white. In this case, the most important question is By providing such binaries, are the solution providers encouraging participation in the FOSS ecosystem. OR are they encouraging participation in the propritary ecosystem.
In this case it seems to me that the GNU/Linux solution providers are encouraging adoption of FOSS ecosystem.
"And then you begin to experience what I know people are experiencing here and I certainly see in the States. Which is once you have moved somebody from IE to Firefox for security reasons, and from Word to Open Office for economic reasons. It then turns out that they are living in a free software environment, and you come along one day, and remove the operating system and put a new one underneath and they don't even notice that its happened. So that the gradient of fear of technological change, which was the real guarantor of the monopolies market power is being overcome."
Best way to lead people into the fold of GNU/Linux.
Here I will go one step further. Where ever we install windows binaries we should some how ensure that at least few systems are fully under GNU/Linux. This will definitely bring about a healthy rivalry among the OSs. My experience with clients has been that where ever GNU/Linux was installed the users are most reluctant to move back to MS Windows. By this, by the time all the people are ready for Linux we would have got some GNU/Linux sysadmins ready in each place.
-- Rajagopal CV
cvr3@river-valley.org wrote:
When Linux business solution providers go to Govt. organisations they are confronted with the bleak scenario of all the systems being under M$. Since their solutions are "standalone" and built with Linux libraries such as GTK, QT etc. they need invariably Linux OS. Since the organisations are reluctant to change their existing M$ platform just to accommodate their solutions (even though they liked it) they are loosing that business. What I am asking is that under these circumstances is it ethically and morally correct for them to create M$ binaries of their solution using windows versions of GTK and QT libraries and install them on the M$ platform, and there by getting the business order.
These libraries are Free on Windows and Linux, and therefore legally usable *as long as* any GPL libraries statically linked are under GPL and include source.
In term of ethics/morality, I personally believe using FOSS software on Windows is a win by itself, because it opens the mind of users by showing them a world where software can be free. We just have to make sure that people don't mistake Free software with freeware. I have to spend considerable energy on that right now. :)
Right now, if you buy a new computer/laptop, you will definitely have windows on it already. But with FOSS software, an average user doesn't need to get any additional proprietary software to get day-to-day work done.
You have 7-zip,Clamwin, Openoffice, gimp, inkscape, mysql/postgresql,gaim,filezilla etc. which more mostly satisfies all the needs of the user.
This by itself is a big win from my POV. Once users start talking about it with friends and get comfortable using it, they won't notice the difference when one day they try out a linux workstation.
The pain of migrating users from windows to Linux has always been about changing how users do day-to-day tasks, and this is a great way to cross the bridge.
- Sandip
These libraries are Free on Windows and Linux, and therefore legally usable *as long as* any GPL libraries statically linked are under GPL and include source.
Apologies. That should have been "as long as any software which uses statically linked GPL libraries are under GPL and include source".
- Sandip
On 3/13/07, Sandip Bhattacharya sandip@lug-delhi.org wrote:
cvr3@river-valley.org wrote:
When Linux business solution providers go to Govt. organisations they are confronted with the bleak scenario of all the systems being under M$. Since their solutions are "standalone" and built with Linux
libraries
such as GTK, QT etc. they need invariably Linux OS. Since the organisations are reluctant to change their existing M$ platform just to accommodate their solutions (even though they liked it) they are loosing that business. What I am asking is that under these circumstances is it ethically and morally correct for them to create M$ binaries of their solution using windows versions of GTK and QT libraries and install them on the M$ platform, and there by getting the business order.
These libraries are Free on Windows and Linux, and therefore legally usable *as long as* any GPL libraries statically linked are under GPL and include source.
In term of ethics/morality, I personally believe using FOSS software on Windows is a win by itself, because it opens the mind of users by showing them a world where software can be free. We just have to make sure that people don't mistake Free software with freeware. I have to spend considerable energy on that right now. :)
Right now, if you buy a new computer/laptop, you will definitely have windows on it already. But with FOSS software, an average user doesn't need to get any additional proprietary software to get day-to-day work done.
You have 7-zip,Clamwin, Openoffice, gimp, inkscape, mysql/postgresql,gaim,filezilla etc. which more mostly satisfies all the needs of the user.
This by itself is a big win from my POV. Once users start talking about it with friends and get comfortable using it, they won't notice the difference when one day they try out a linux workstation.
The pain of migrating users from windows to Linux has always been about changing how users do day-to-day tasks, and this is a great way to cross the bridge.
Really loved the line. If you are ready to change a little bit then you can easily migrate to linux. For a newbei to the computer world :M$ or Linux hardly matters.
Sujith Haridasan
- Sandip
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cvr3＠river-valley.org -
Krishna Pagadala -
Sandip Bhattacharya -
sujith h