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FOSS Is Not Free if It's Not Free From Complexity
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.
Oh Yes, the author does seem confused. He quotes the 'four freedoms' (which are: Free and open source software (FOSS) is founded on the four software freedoms: (a) freedom to run; (b) freedom to study; (c) freedom to modify; and (d) freedom to redistribute a program) and then launches into a dialog about ONLY ONE of them. The user, besides having the 'freedom to run'--also has the freedom to study the program and figgure out how to use it, which drivers are better, etc. THEN if he/she wants to, he/she can work and study on how to modify it-- not really an issue if he/she can't even get it to run! Sounds to me like this quy should buy Miocroshoft's stuff and just shut up. Ease = money. Cheap or free = work a little. Always has been, always will be.