[Reader-list] freedom and freesoftware

[Prabhat Kumar]

First of all I would like say sorry as Mr. Mathur is
willing to leave this mailing list. I didn't expect
this to happen.

I would like to finish my series of mails. But before
that I would like to write few more things without
getting into any bitter argument. 

1. Free software philosophy is solely based upon the
theory of right to information. Otherwise it has no
other standpoint. If any form of information is not
bound to be open then there is no reason why software
should be open and freely available.

2. In India around 70-80% computer workers due to
whatever background and reason are dependent on oral
communication for learning and usage. They start their
learning in small local cost computer courses. Most of
the time instructors also come from the culture of
oral communication and similar background. They almost
never refer any manual or even help topics of the
software. But there also one can find network of share
as well as secrecy. Expert, ustad, guru etc. are terms
they refer to each other. They tend to get stuck when
they see unusual difficult reading error massages. 

Not only software in other technical fields also oral
communication is the only mode of sharing and
acquiring knowledge for large number of workers. Thus
absence of training is same as absence of
documentation and mailing list for any Linux
programmer. And I don't think any Linux programmer
also will appreciate availability of code without any
documentation.

3. From the very beginning of market and capital
formation there had always been struggles and protests
against centralized control over means of production,
production process, output and its distribution. And
it is still going on. Free software programmers are
not the first one to do so. In the case of software
and programmes, success was possible to attain because
it involves very little tangible stock as investment
and output is also intangible. In free time someone
can produce a programme and put it on the web but in
the case of any other product this is not possible as
constant investment is required. Though one can spend
personal time and knowledge endlessly but no one can
invest resources endlessly to provide a tangible good
for free. Even if information about production process
is available in some cases but production is not at
all possible by society at large. Production is always
in the control of investors and investment
institutions. It is something like offering big bony
meat to toothless tiger, which can appear extremely
cruel at times. Thus if free software users think that
they are the only one who deserve the right to their
means of production and output that is information of
the code then they are wrong. When it is said that
“free as freedom, not free beer” one forget that to
provide free beer the person or community needs
freedom on means of production and the product. Market
is created on the basis of natural scarcity or
artificial scarcity. In many occasions lot of food
grains are destroyed due to lack of buyer where as
many starve to death. Thus free beer or any free
tangible commodity doesn’t mean luxury or favor. It
means freedom. Linux users need to understand and
express solidarity with those people who are still
struggling for freedom of other means of production
and output.
4. If some one talks of development of industry,
expansion of market and government’s responsibility to
implement these, it actually means production process,
means of production, output and its distribution
should be controlled and scarcity should be
maintained. It means imposition of censors,
surveillance, policing and judiciary. Proprietorships,
copyrights and patents are useless if there is no
profit out of it. Hence all mechanisms of maintaining
these three might appear to be vestigial to the
society. And government might find itself jobless.

Criticism not necessarily means negative feeling. So,
I would like to request Mr.Mathur not to leave the
list.

Prabhat

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