On Thursday 09 Feb 2006 12:00, Colin Rothwell colin.rothwell@frambroadband.com wrote:
Why do I like Linux? I think it mainly comes down to the fact that it's free. I don't see why I should pay through the teeth for an expensive micro$oft product when I can have one that is just as good for free (i.e. Open Office org and Linux).
There is however a slight problem with this consumer side outlook, those that build and make available the distribution/s your are downloading, are depending on other consumers, such as I, (I have a subscription to Slackware), to fund the development, their hardware, web sites and mirrors.
The principle is, after all, ``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.'' See: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
If you want to take something, you have a responsibility to give something back.