: > On Thu, 2006-11-16 at 12:47 +0000, Norman Silverstone wrote: > > > Are you confusing free as in beer with free as in freedom? FOSS does not > > > have to be free as in beer! > > > > I find this very confusing. If I buy an application to run in Ubuntu > > what sort of freedom is represented? > > > > Norman > > Free (as in software) means freedom, not money.
< snip > > If you don't have the source then the program isn't free - the Ubuntu > operating system remains free of course and the source can be downloaded > easily. When I first changed to Linux I thought that I would be able to do all that I wanted to do on my PC without having to pay money for software. However, I soon came to realise that this was not the case. It was a wonderful experience to have an operating system which was regularly updated and which allowed me to use my broadband connection without the worry of viruses etc. So, if some enterprising person or organisation was prepared to develop and sell an application which ran successfully on a Linux PC, it is not unreasonable to have to pay for it. I think that the more people are prepared to accept that Ubuntu as an operating system is well worth having, even if it is necessary to buy some software, the greater would be the uptake of this free operating system. Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/