changeset 48:a60b2d32b597

reworked some sentences; fixed dates; more
author meillo@marmaro.de
date Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:23:10 +0200
parents d52fa2350137
children efb2d7b375ad
files thesis/tex/2-FreeSoftwareProjects.tex
diffstat 1 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-) [+]
line wrap: on
line diff
--- a/thesis/tex/2-FreeSoftwareProjects.tex	Tue Oct 14 11:48:58 2008 +0200
+++ b/thesis/tex/2-FreeSoftwareProjects.tex	Tue Oct 14 12:23:10 2008 +0200
@@ -4,24 +4,24 @@
 To understand \freesw\ projects, one needs to understand \freesw\ itself first.
 
 \section{About \freesw}
-The term ``Free Software'' was coined by the \name{Free Software Foundation} (short: \NAME{FSF}), founded by Richard M.\ Stallman (known as ``RMS'') in 1985. %FIXME: check date
-Although various licenses make software free, none of them represents the thinking of \freesw\ like the the \GNU\ \gpl\ (short: \GPL), which was written by Stallman in 1983.
-One could say, the \GPL\ ``powered'' the \name{Free Software movement}.
+The term ``Free Software'' was coined by the \name{Free Software Foundation} (short: \NAME{FSF}), founded by Richard M.\ Stallman (known as ``RMS'') in 1985.
+Although various licenses make software free, none of them represents the thinking of \freesw\ like the the \GNU\ \gpl\ (short: \GPL). Its first version was written by Stallman in 1989.
+One could say, the \GPL\ catalized the \name{Free Software movement}.
 
-But after all, the \GPL\ was not the first \freesw\ license used.
-The \name{BSD License} for example is much older; with first occurences around 19xx. %FIXME: insert date
-However, nobody talked about ``Free Software'' back then.
+After all, the \GPL\ was not the first \freesw\ license used.
+The \name{MIT License} (or \name{X Consortium License}) for example is older; published in 1988.
+Licenses providing the same rights have been used since long time ago.
+But none of them was so often (re)used by other projects---thus gattering less awareness.
+Further more was the \GPL\ created to be a \emph{general} license for all kinds of programs, unlike most other licenses written for one particular program.
 
 \freesw\ gives freedoms to its users.
 In contrast to proprietary software restricting the users freedom.
-The freedoms (or rights) the user has are stated in %FIXME where?
-. Namely these are:
+The freedoms (or rights) the user has are stated in the \name{Free Software Definition} of the \NAME{FSF}. Namely these are:
 \begin{enumerate}
-	\item The freedom to use
-	\item The freedom to copy and share
-	\item The freedom to study the source code
-	\item The freedom to modify
-	\item The freedom to redistribute (granting the same freedom)
+	\item The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
+	\item The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
+	\item The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
+	\item The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
 \end{enumerate}
 
 
@@ -67,8 +67,7 @@
 Be it on the mailing list, the discussion board, or by telling the developers about a new feature wanted.
 
 There will hardly be a community if no communication channels are available.
-If the development team does not provide them, there is a chance that enthusiastic %FIXME: better word
-users set them up on their own.
+If the development team does not provide them, there is a chance that encouraged users set them up on their own.
 But this is rare and the program needs to be very popular. %TODO: maybe include an example here (w3m?)
 
 Projects without a good community tend to die sooner or later.