[mythtvnz] freeware vs open source (was USB remote receiver)

[Alan Walls]

I thought I might, but didn't want to start a flame war.

I completely agree that GPL is quite different to freeware and its
openness is a huge asset.  The majority of the people here should
understand that.  What we fail to remember is that we don't represent
the majority of the population.

If I ask my mother what the difference between GPL and freeware was I'm
pretty sure the answer would be "What is GPL?"
 
I believe this company is just using language that their audience
understands.  Although, maybe I am being generous because this is a
technical product.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtvnz-bounces at lists.linuxnut.co.nz [mailto:mythtvnz-
> bounces at lists.linuxnut.co.nz] On Behalf Of Hadley Rich
> Sent: Monday, 15 June 2009 1:22 p.m.
> To: MythTV in NZ
> Subject: Re: [mythtvnz] freeware vs open source (was USB remote
> receiver)
> 
> On Mon, 2009-06-15 at 13:10 +1200, Alan Walls wrote:
> > I agree freeware and GPL are different but only to developers (and
> > lawyers) (Aren't you both :-) ).  For people who don't want anything
> > to do with compilers they are both the same thing.  Saying "GPL"
> would
> > confuse rather than help these people.  The people who need to know
> > the difference will do the research to find which is which.
> 
> Woh there. freeware and the GPL are very different for everyone
whether
> they be a developer or not. Sure the end user just gets to "get stuff
> without paying for it" in both cases but that's not the point.
> 
> Just because the end user doesn't care about compiling it or looking
at
> the source doesn't mean that it doesn't benefit them that it's
> available
> with open source programs. Someone else out there has more than likely
> gone through the source and found any malware parts, things that phone
> home etc. The same can't be said for "freeware".
> 
> hads
> --
> http://nicegear.co.nz
> New Zealand's Open Source Hardware Supplier
> 
> 
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