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Evaluating the Harmful Effects of Closed Source Software

New submitter Drinking Bleach writes "Eric Raymond, coiner of the term 'open source' and co-founder of the Open Source Initiative, writes in detail about how to evaluate the effects of running any particular piece of closed source software and details the possible harms of doing so. Ranking limited firmware as the least kind of harm to full operating systems as potentially the greatest harms, he details his reasoning for all of them. Likewise, Richard Stallman, founder of GNU and the Free Software Foundation, writes about a much more limited scope, Nonfree DRM'd games on GNU/Linux, in which he takes the firm stance that non-free software is unethical in all cases but concedes that running non-free games on a free operating system is much more desirable than running them on a non-free operating system itself (such as Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS X)."

2 of 490 comments (clear)

  1. Re:on the other side of the coin by next_ghost · · Score: 1, Troll

    Linux works best when users don't know it's linux. Once you put it in front of consumers you're asking for trouble.

    Linux works best when you don't expect your computer to be nothing more than a glorified TV/typewriter. The single most important feature of Linux is that it gives you power to solve complicated problems by combining very simple tools. You don't have to rely on somebody else to solve everything for you like on Windows or Mac.

  2. Re:on the other side of the coin by macs4all · · Score: 0, Troll

    Why did you need to get rid of Linux?

    He didn't NEED to get rid of Linux; he WANTED to get rid of Linux.

    And I'm sure it was because he wanted to work WITH his computer, instead of working ON his computer.

    Ya know, for all the Linux fanbois who bitch about "Religious" Apple enthusiasts, Linux zealots are just as bad, or worse.

    Jus' sayin'...