On Sat 15/May/2021 15:50:12 +0200 spiralofhope wrote:
> On Fri, 14 May 2021 14:27:15 +0200
> "Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult" <lkml@???> wrote:
>> On 09.05.21 08:33, tito via Dng wrote:
>>
>>> So the first question that arises is: how could open source and free
>>> software projects ensure protection from damage up to data loss if
>>> actually even proprietary software comes with no warranty at all? >>
>> Make it crystal clear, that our software is neither a product, nor
>> service, nor anything near to any commercial thing, but instead just
>> a piece of art, like a novel or a poem.
>
> A programming language used to write code is not different than the
> English an author uses to write a story.
>
> It would take some effort to explain, but programming and authoring do
> map to one another.
>
> For example, it's a long-time pursuit for many programmers to author
> more natural language-like readable code.


On the other hand, the majority of people cannot write or read computer
programs. Some barely understand the principles by which computers work. Yet,
they use them, and at times may happen to depend on them for life-or-death matters.

Should that people use free software?

Actually, even programmers use a number of software packages without even
bothering to download their sources. We may appreciate the syntax or the ease
of use, but much of the poetry gets lost.

I'd confess that I read code only in a few occasions. When there's not enough
docs, when there's a malfunction, when I have to write code which interacts
with that.


Best
Ale
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