[ppc-mobo] Re: GNU License for Hardware

Richard Stallman rms at gnu.org
Wed Oct 13 21:43:35 UTC 1999


    Even in the software world it is not free of false usage, were not the open
    group using it for some rather closed/non-free stuff ?

The term "open software" was a buzzword in the late 1980s, meaning
that components communicate using standard interfaces so you can mix
and match them.  Unix was the paradigmatic open system.  Most open
software was proprietary software, and the Open Software Foundation
developed mainly proprietary software.

I think that open software is not good enough--software should be
free.  However, for hardware, I think it is sufficient for it to be
open.  Hardware needs to be open in order for free software to support
it.




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