"rights" and "freedoms"

[L. Peter Deutsch]

> Programmers are free to provide their programming services to people, using
> the works of their community to improve their ability to provide services.

That's the issue in a nutshell.  The Free Software movement verges on taking
the position that the only legitimate way for programmers to make money is
to provide services.  I make the analogy with composers of music and writers
of fiction.  I have yet to hear a persuasive explanation of why Free
Software advocates think it's OK for authors of fiction to be paid for each
copy of their work, but not programmers.  If the distinction is between a
"purely expressive" and a "functional" work, how about authors of cookbooks?
Authors of how-to books of all kinds?  Authors of reference works?  Why is
software different?  And if it isn't different, why are software authors
singled out?

-- 

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