Author: freemedia Date: To: dng Subject: [DNG] fifth freedom
free software force and golinux have expressed interest in a revised version of the four freedoms, which i was initially very shy about the idea of. for some time ive proposed as an alternative a list of companion qualities or "pillars" which i havent completely abandoned yet.
still, while seeking what these pillars would be, someone stepped up with a really ideal fifth freedom, which im now taking on a tour of sorts, consider this a request for comments:
The freedom to NOT run the software, to be free to avoid vendor lock-in through appropriate modularization/encapsulation and minimized dependencies; meaning any free software can be replaced with a user’s preferred alternatives (freedom 4).
for comparison, the existing four freedoms are:
The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
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.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).
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.