[Freeswitch-users] The public perception of open-source software

[Olgierd Ziolko]

Just a short comment:
pretty good example most parents will understand is volunteering: parents
often volunteer to take part in class' activities - in school trips (as
assistants to teachers), their kids' parties, events and so on.
Parents willingly donate their free time and/or skills (when they, for
example, are chemists and explain children what science actually is,
sometimes sparking life-long interest) but it doesn't mean that children
goes astray on trips, get poisoned on science fairs or drugged and robbed
on primary school parties. Or become communists.
Parents donate their time and expertise to provide their community so much
needed experience, skills and - probably most precious - time.

Same with with FOSS and developers.

Just my 3 pence ;)

O.


On 15 December 2015 at 00:04, Ken Rice <krice at freeswitch.org> wrote:

> New Post on freeswitch.org from Kathleen King
> check it out at http://ift.tt/1OsGMcz
> The public perception of open-source software
>
> These days “free” software seems to be a scary prospect to the general
> public. The association between open-source software and malicious “click
> here for free stuff” ads is strong and the fear of unknown “hackers” runs
> rampant. The old adage that “nothing good in life comes for free” has
> ingrained the idea that free is synonymous with scams. Why would anyone in
> their right mind give away a great product for free? This thought process
> is why most of the general public limits themselves to costly, proprietary
> services. The tech industry is huge and understanding it all is impossible,
> but buying trust isn’t the answer to guaranteed safety. There is plenty of
> fantastic open-source software available and it shouldn’t only be
> accessible to experienced, tech savvy individuals. And, as we move toward a
> more tech based culture, the up and coming generations can have an
> especially difficult time trying to explain this misconstrued conclusion to
> their older peers. Jim Salter <http://ift.tt/1I5ykTL> from Opensource.com
> <https://opensource.com/> addressed this issue with an open letter to all
> parents with kids that want to use open-source software. He goes on to say
> free open-source software (FOSS) “is not “stolen” software. Free software
> licenses like the GPL <http://ift.tt/13egZNC> and the BSD
> <http://ift.tt/1G3TBY4> and Apache <http://ift.tt/1h4jwC0> licenses allow
> users the ability to freely use, and developers the ability to freely
> develop, the software placed under those licenses. Another important thing
> to understand about FOSS is that it is not merely “free” in the sense of
> “free in every box of cereal.” Making a new copy of a piece of software
> literally costs nothing at all—this has made it possible for community
> efforts to produce world-class products in a way material goods never could
> be.” Helping the general public to understand the definition and motivation
> behind open-source will bring it out of the shadows of the industry and
> help it become mainstream. You can read his letter here:
> http://ift.tt/1UnfwRq
>
>
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