1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
|
---
title: "Why you should use free software?"
date: 2021-06-24
layout: wiki
wiki: freeguide
tags: [compilation, "free software", "proprietary", reason]
---
Free software is about freedom, not price[^1]. *Freedom* here refers to:
0. The freedom to **run** the program as you wish, for any purpose
(**freedom 0**).
1. The freedom to **study** how the program works, and **change** it so it
does your computing as you wish (**freedom 1**). Access to the source code
is a precondition for this.
2. The freedom to **redistribute** copies so you can help others
(**freedom 2**).
3. The freedom to **distribute copies of your modified versions** to others
(**freedom 3**). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to
benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for
this.
At first glance, you would think that most users would only benefit from
**freedom 0** and **freedom 2**. While it is true that most would not
exercise freedom 1 and freedom 3, they do indirectly benefits users. Because
the original programmers allows derivative programs to be distributed, they
cannot implement malicious anti-features, such as spying or fraud without being
spotted. Being free software is thus the prerequisite for being
user-respecting software.
There are of course competing reasons for choosing software, such as
user-friendliness/ease-of-use. While these requirements are rather subjective,
I do agree that some free software programs have less fancy UI (like ) and
sometimes not easy to use (like GIMP). It is up to you to decide the balance
between criteria, but there is certainly strong reasons to prefer free
software, *ceteris paribus*[^2]
The content below consists of lists of bad examples of proprietary software, as
well as some example of free software turning bad[^3] which resulted in forks.
(It's empty right now, see GNU list below or contribute)
-----
Other lists:
- [GNU's list of malicious functionalities with references][gnu-list]
[gnu-list]: https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary.html
[^1]: <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>
The word "free" was used despite its ambiguity for lack of better word.
[^2]: All else being equal, but in fancy Latin.
[^3]: Subjective, I know.
|
