It seems like everyone backing Stallman's fundamentalist stance has this either/or attitude as it applies to the free software vs. proprietary issue (which is really a false dichotomy). They may pay lip service to the idea that both have their place but continue to back the RMS extremist position.
When I say the world doesn't work like that I don't know how I could clarify. The previous sentences explain it I think. The world works like this: people pay money for goods and services. Some nice people help others and give things away free but we all need money to survive. If OS X or MS Office were GPL someone would derive a work, give it away free and we wouldn't have those companies to make nice things like our iPhones and whatnot. The free software movement has given us a ton of great things and have done their share of innovation but it's the big guys who are making money that are improving on those ideas and creating products that everyone can enjoy, not just us power users, hackers, and other technophiles.
In the end, the general tech using public just wants to surf the web, do some work, make a phone call and generally just have a product work. The restrictions put on proprietary tech (like the apple walled garden and the upcoming Windows 8 secure boot) are a small price to pay in their eyes to just be able to turn on their devices and get something done.
Let's be honest here and admit that the FSF and all it's made, while truly awesome, just isn't ready for the average user. We need the evil software companies not only to make products that are useful for everyone but to actually continue copyrighting and patenting their works because really these restrictions are what fuel innovation. I don't like the premise of the FSF. I'm on board with open source, though. I value both and in the end, while its kind of dumb when you step back and look at the big picture, both sides need each other.
When I say the world doesn't work like that I don't know how I could clarify. The previous sentences explain it I think. The world works like this: people pay money for goods and services. Some nice people help others and give things away free but we all need money to survive. If OS X or MS Office were GPL someone would derive a work, give it away free and we wouldn't have those companies to make nice things like our iPhones and whatnot. The free software movement has given us a ton of great things and have done their share of innovation but it's the big guys who are making money that are improving on those ideas and creating products that everyone can enjoy, not just us power users, hackers, and other technophiles.
In the end, the general tech using public just wants to surf the web, do some work, make a phone call and generally just have a product work. The restrictions put on proprietary tech (like the apple walled garden and the upcoming Windows 8 secure boot) are a small price to pay in their eyes to just be able to turn on their devices and get something done.
Let's be honest here and admit that the FSF and all it's made, while truly awesome, just isn't ready for the average user. We need the evil software companies not only to make products that are useful for everyone but to actually continue copyrighting and patenting their works because really these restrictions are what fuel innovation. I don't like the premise of the FSF. I'm on board with open source, though. I value both and in the end, while its kind of dumb when you step back and look at the big picture, both sides need each other.