Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FOSS Is Not Free if It's Not Free From Complexity

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pomp-and-circumstance dept.

A reader writes:"This article argues that freedom from complexity is an essential part of the first FOSS freedom - the freedom to run a program. Freedom to run means nothing if the exercise of such right excludes people who do not possess high technical knowledge or advanced skills sets. Without the guarantee of "ease of use", the freedom to run FOSS for most users is a hollow promise. " (My own bias ensues here): I think that there are some valuable points in here; what good is a good if it cannot be used, but OTOH this argument seems simplistic.

2 of 523 comments (clear)

  1. How does this benefit the community? by standbypowerguy · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    How does giving away free (as in beer) software to unskilled, disinterested Joe Sixpack types benefit the community? What can we reasonably expect them to contribute? When was the last time your Aunt Mabel filed a bug report?

    --
    This isn't the sig you're looking for... Move along.
  2. I agree... by monopole · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...but he isn't taking it far enough! He's arguing all this using this complicated written language stuff, which denies the contents to illiterates. If you can't do everything with pretty pictures it's not free! As a result the entire resources of the FOSS community shoulod be diverted to implementing a free version of Microsoft Bob!