Comments on: Are The Mono Wars Over?

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:50:04 +0000

@Jon Yes that’s true. I could easily use cracked versions of all kinds of proprietary software like some people I know, but I choose not to. What I mean by Free Software religion as a downside is the fundamentalism you sometimes see. I would like people to use more Free Software and I am happy to help them with that, but I don’t push it in people’s faces or rant at them. This only turns them away. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. I promote Free Software in every way I can but I don’t want people to think “oh god here comes that bloke who’s just going to rant at us about freedom again… let’s get away quick”. They know my views and I don’t need to go on about it, they have to make up their own minds. If they want help they will ask me

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:53:34 +0000

I think that Free Software might be a religion. We make some unprovable assumptions. We stick together extremely closely. I have never had to wait more than 24 hours on a help forum for help. We feel persecuted at work when we talk about alternative operating systems. The developers of the operating systems that are most dedicated to the GNU philosophy provide the best technical support. Even Richard Stallman has responded to my emails. We are unable to understand why anyone would use proprietary operating systems.

We all know how to obtain free unauthorized copies of any proprietary application. Yet, we still choose to use only liberated software.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:10:30 +0000

@illumin8 – I agree with your sentiment completely. I’ve never heard that phrase as I don’t listen to TWiT. I do have FLOSS Weekly in my Gpodder list but somehow I never get round to listening to it. Tim O’Reilly has a strange relationship with Free Software. It sounds as though people are just using this phrase as an excuse to do what they wanted to do anyway. We need to ensure we protect the freedoms we have worked hard to establish, and improve on them wherever possible. The sad truth is that most people will only take the path of least resistance. It’s our duty to try and show them why these issues matter, without preaching or being paranoid. The more you treat Free Software like a religion the more people will just turn off. I wonder if perhaps this is what O’Reilly meant. I’ll have to listen to the show now and see. Thanks for the iniformation

By: illumin8

illumin8 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:22:15 +0000

Thanks for your graciousness.

After the Floss weekly interview with Tim O’reilly,
(net casts you…something something from people something something)

I saw a notable spike in Identi.ca posts using his idea “pragmatic not religious”, which I think was taken out of context. I believe Tim O’Rielly was refering to the atmosphere of innovation rather than usage choice. Innovation comes from need, and opportunity and is therefore pragmatic in nature,rather than steming from conviction. But the implementation and how that innovation is made available is where the ideal applies.

I noticed that people were using this catchphrase as an excuse to make consumer decisions based on pragmatism rather than idealism. While i generally understand this ( i have flash on my box) if this out of context idea takes root as a community truth, it has the potential to destroy the very atmosphere of conviction that made much of FOSS grow in use and recognition.

I can understand TEMPORARILY making compromise for need of function, while maintaining core convictions but if this pragmatic idea starts allowing core operations to be written in non open code, then we might as well just tell the proprietary world “we give up..please take my money and threaten my mom”.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:41:26 +0000

@has – Oh yeah, this is not close to the GPLv3, I certainly wouldn’t want to give that impression. This promise also doesn’t cover some sections of .NET as I pointed out. It seems from all the different sources I’ve read though that most of the popular applications like Tomboy, Banshee, F-Spot are covered. I don’t think all the problems with Mono will go immediately but this is a step in the right direction.

By: has

has — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:33:37 +0000

I think this is great news for the pro-mono people.
I still don’t trust Microsoft, but this is a step forward.
Note however what the promise applies to:
“Q: What if I don’t implement the entire specification? Will I still get the protections under the CP?

A: The CP applies only if the implementation conforms fully to required portions of the specification. Partial implementations are not covered.”

This of course, is nothing like the GPLv3 patent protection terms, where you can modify and practice your freedoms while not necessarily conform to a standard while still receiving patent protection.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:12:06 +0000

@illumin8 – Oh and I forgot to say, thanks for your good wishes, I appreciate them. I wish you success and happiness in future too, honestly. Maybe, just maybe, one day we’ll be able to look back and laugh at a time when Windows had a 90% market share. I sincerely hope so

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:09:13 +0000

@illumin8 – Perhaps I misinterpreted your post then, I apologise for that. I may have been hasty in my reply I agree that we must keep the ideals of open source and free software alive. I’d be interested to know what you mean by the trends on Identi.ca? I might have missed them. Are people’s views changing?

My attitude towards MS is not changed by one action. They have a hell of a lot more to do to atone for their wrongs. Like you I don’t see Baldmer leaving any time soon. There are many good people at the company but with top management like that, it’s got to be hard. The people responsible for development and open sourcing certain things must be fighting against the system. I hope they can succeed in future

By: illumin8

illumin8 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:03:33 +0000

@heathenx its a large spanish speaking monkey with one earphone.

By: illumin8

illumin8 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:51:47 +0000

I need to remember that generalities dont always translate well. I need “person specific” and “general idea” tags. My comment was much more general, but by your response, it get the impression that the way i worded things sounded like a personal attack. I appologise if that is the case. I think I am more generally frustrated with some subtle trends that i see cropping up in identi.ca posts, blogs and podcasts, that if left unchecked will begin to erode and undermine the social influence of opensource and freesoftware.

As for Microsoft, I live pretty close to them, and have alot of friends that work there. There are a large number of brilliant openminded programmers there, and I am convinced that with an upper management change, Microsoft would change beyond what most people could imagine…but good luck getting Bommer out without getting hit by a chair.

As for where you stand.. I listen to, and read that weekly and appreciate what you provide. I look forward to seeing what interesting doors open up for you from this in the future.