[Office-commits] r9964 - trunk/campaigns

[sysadmin]

Author: www-data
Date: Fri Oct  2 16:27:18 2009
New Revision: 9964

Log:
web commit by tal82k

Modified:
   trunk/campaigns/thecaranalogy_bullet_style.mdwn

Modified: trunk/campaigns/thecaranalogy_bullet_style.mdwn
==============================================================================
--- trunk/campaigns/thecaranalogy_bullet_style.mdwn     Fri Oct  2 15:20:33 
2009        (r9963)
+++ trunk/campaigns/thecaranalogy_bullet_style.mdwn     Fri Oct  2 16:27:18 
2009        (r9964)
@@ -1,10 +1,4 @@
-Unfortunately, many people do not understand the importance of their freedom 
in the software they use. This is partially due to not understanding how 
computers work.  This is fine, but makes for quite a difficulty in trying to 
communicate why someone should use free software.
-
-To get past all this, let's use an analogy to another machine that many of us
-depend on in our day-to-day lives: our car.  Thanks to years of
-experience and that show on NPR we've somewhat wrapped our heads around
-how a car works.  And despite the car industry's best attempts, cars are
-nowhere near as locked down as proprietary software.
+**What if buying a car were like buying a computer running Windows or Mac OS 
X? The following example may seem strange at first, but is an interesting 
analogy to understand the important difference between proprietary software 
that is designed to take away your freedom, and free software.**
 
 So, you go to the car dealership and purchase a brand new car:
 
@@ -16,19 +10,7 @@
 
 * If you wanted to have your car fixed, you would have to go to an accredited, 
licensed repair shop.  It would be illegal for anyone else to open the hood.  
When you get to your licensed repair shop, they would charge you an "accredited 
repair license surcharge."
 
-And if you're starting to see how annoying, limiting and almost
-insulting the restrictions imposed on proprietary software would be if
-imposed on a car, remember that this is just a car we're talking about.
-  It gets us around, but it doesn't have nearly every central function
-of a democratic society depending on it more and more each day, like
-software does.  Imagine how rough the world would look when every
-corner of society--picking up a newspaper, reading a library book,
-putting out your band's album, drawing a picture, taking a college
-class--starts being subject to the self-interested, often capricious
-control of software makers.
-
-
-While some of the above concepts may seem ridiculous, it is exactly what 
happens when a person chooses to use non-free software. You choose the software 
that best fits your needs, and sometimes a salesperson will help you out. You 
agree to a contract that you probably did not read, or sometimes you even 
implicitly agree to the terms by using the software. You use the software. 
However, you can only use the software in ways that the publisher agrees with 
(driving, in our analogy). When the software malfunctions, or even when you 
want to make something better, there is nowhere to go except to the publisher 
of the software. You can not go to a friend who is good with computers. You can 
not go to a company to have them fix it for you. You must go to the developer. 
When you bring your problem to their attention, they may say, "We can fix that 
for you." They may say, "We will think about adding that in our next release." 
Or they may (probably) say, "That's a feature of the program, there is nothing 
to fix."
+While these ideas may seem ridiculous, it is exactly what happens when a 
person chooses to use non-free software. You choose the software that best fits 
your needs, and sometimes a salesperson will help you out. You agree to a 
contract that you probably did not read, or sometimes you even implicitly agree 
to the terms by using the software. You use the softare. However, you can only 
use the software in ways that the publisher agrees with (driving, in our 
analogy). When the software malfunctions, or even when you want to make 
something better, there is nowhere to go except to the publisher of the 
software. You can not go to a friend who is good with computers. You can not go 
to a company to have them fix it for you. You must go to the developer. When 
you bring your problem to their attention, they may say, "We can fix that for 
you." They may say, "We will think about adding that in our next release." Or 
they may (probably) say, "That's a feature of the program, there is nothing to 
fix."
 
 Free software, on the other hand, promotes user freedoms. Free software is 
defined as: 
 
@@ -37,11 +19,4 @@
 * Software that can be redistributed -- sell your car?
 * Software where you can improve the program and release your improvements -- 
add an active hood scoop and turbo-charger, and put the plans for doing so on 
your favorite modding site.
 
-It's a reality much more malicious than a broken car with a locked hood,
-and it's worth fighting.   Millions of people all around the world are
-using, studying, improving, and distributing free software as you read
-this.  You've probably used tons of free software without even knowing
-it.  If you'd like to do something to help, becoming a member of the
-Free Software Foundation is a great way to start.
-
 We don't accept infringement on our freedoms when buying a car, so why should 
we with software?