When did speech suddenly begin meaning beer?

Geekery / 1 March 2008 / John / 1

I had a nasty shock the other day when I ran vrms and discovered that half the software I’m running isn’t actually free. This seems to have happened by stealth – partly by the insidious creeping nature of the words “Open Source” and partly by my own complacency. The first one – this page will tell you why “Free Software” and “Open Source Software” aren’t the same thing. The second – well, I think I’ve just become too trusting and stopped reading the small print. Also, like a lot of other people, the availabilty of cool new features in GNU/Linux systems (mp3 audio, 3D acceleration, etc) have resulted in me using proprietry drivers and firmware and coming to depend on them.

“That’s a bit extreme,” you say. “Why ‘by stealth’?”

Well, here’s an example – I use Ubuntu Desktop quite extensively. The default icon set and theme that comes with Ubuntu is not published under the GPL, it’s published under a creative commons license. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as “just not using it”, as the files are dependencies of the ubuntu-desktop package – this essentially means the end user is forced to either accept the terms forced on him by the license, or not use a GUI.

My concern is, however, that now that I’m so used to using a system like Ubuntu on my laptop, would it actually be possible for me to return to using completely Free-as-in-speech software?

I’m going to find out. I’ve cleared a bit of space on my laptop and will install gnewsense – a GNU/Linux distro with an emphasis on free software – and see how far I get. I know for a fact that I’ll not be able to use the built in wireless, so my first challenge will be to get online (without running fifty feet of CAT5).

John

UNIX geek, wannabe cook, musician, book-lover, and all round good-guy.