Free and Libre

GNU/Linux and open source software is being promoted quite actively in our country as well as around the world. There have been many instances where the word free has become confusing to those getting to know FOSS. Free software is something you do not pay for, it does not ensure that the source code is also made available. You cannot change it either. Such software exists. Open source software is when the source code -the way the program has been written – is made available. This does not mean the software has to be free of charge or that you can share it with your neighbour or friend.

Free and Libre are used to signify freedom to the user, the community, the country and perhaps the world. The problem is that advocacy may fail to stress this very important area, and miss the whole point of the concept to newcomers. The term OST (Open Source Technologies) is now widely used and is of concern as the F is out of it. It should be FOST (Free Open Source Technologies).

People like Richard Stallman did not create FOSS just to allow cheaper software or free of charge software. They did not just want source code made available. They wanted to produce something which would belong to everyone; to build, share, improve, join, distribute, copy, criticise and yet safeguard, with the freedom that all deserve to have. This will not only ensure equality, reduce the digital divide but will allow for people to work together and share together, without worry about legal issues, like patents and copyrights. Making money out of it is part of the freedom!

If people do not undertand this freedom, then the whole purpose of advocating FLOSS fails. If it is a trade off between prorietary and cheap or free of cost software or just open source software, it is just a matter of money and how curious and IT literate you are. You will realise the restrictions of these only when you want to share, improvise and work together, and find it restricted. This is not your software. It belongs to others. They make the rules.

As always, preserving freedom is a life-long battle. The way not to lose, as always, is by education, knowledge and wisdom within the growing community of software users.

In a world growing with ICT, as the levels of ICT literacy rise, the freedom of FLOSS will make its own statement.