Week Eight Readings

In the nerd world, there are two definitions for the word "free". When someone refers to free software, they generally follow it with one of the two definitions:

Free as in Freedom: This means that the software is free to distribute, change, modify, destroy, whatever. You have complete freedom over what you do with it, and who you give it to. Additionally, the author(s) encourage users to veiw the source code of the software and modify/enhance it and share the changes with the world. The legal license associated with software that is free (as in freedom) is called the GPL (General Public License) and states that the software can never be restricted.

Free as in Beer: No doubt started by rowdy college programming students, software that is free as in beer does not cost anything, but does not have the same liberties associated with it as free as in freedom software. The name comes from college parties where people generally drink other people's beer for free.

Many of you have used software that is free (as in freedom) and may be unaware of it. Firefox is by far the most common example. Many browsers share the source code of Firefox, and Firefox itself uses the same source code as Netscape. This goes to show that you don't need to charge money to make some famous software.

Being a Norwegian Lutheran, I will not spend money on ANYTHING unless I absolutely have to. That's one of the reasons I enjoyed this chapter. Even if I were more prone (or proner, if you want to use some bad English) to spending money, the chapter would still be relevant because all of the activites we've done in class so far have been free. Free as in beer. A few exceptions have been using NVU and Kompozer, which are both free (as in freedom) since they share the same source code. In class, I love using free software and doing free activities because it eliminates the income barrier that many students encounter.

I like Szendeffy's idea of E-Postcards, since getting personal letters (electronic or otherwise) is always a plus for students, but I REALLY enjoy blogging. Blogging is almost always free (as in beer) and it gives students a very powerful writing tool. I like it more than ink-and-paper journalling because of the cost, and the fact that you can share your thoughts with the world without having to make many different copies.