Manoj Srivastava wrote:
I beg to differ. Snorting cocaine also gives a short termfeeling of energy and creativity, but is detrimental in the long run. Conspiring with software hoarders, who hoard software and knowledge for profit, and buying the cool-aid, is not of any long term utility.
Snorting cocaine is a bad example. No one snorts cocaine to get his work done or use it as a business tool. Software is a tool to do work.
Closed software is a tool that gets your work done but you cannot examine it and will never know the flaws in it. You cannot make copies of this tool nor can you modify it to improvise it. Every year, the tool is deliberately made obsolete by the manufacturer and he forces its users to buy the new models. The new tools are now being sold as a service, so with the tool you buy, you even have to allow the manufacturer to let his person/s constantly reside in your office to keep track of what you are doing. That person will hold the key to the locker that stores the tool.
Libre software is not only a tool but you have access to the die that made it. As you use and study the tool, you can make changes to its die to suit your requirements and make it better for others too. You can make more tools from this new die and distribute it freely to the community. After you, the next generation will handle the tools and inherit the die and they will make changes to it. Thus the die is like a libre heirloom passed on from one to another with the obligation of providing the same inheritance of the die to that person who is passed on the tool.