They could start by chaning their name to, oh, the FSI
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| dinotrac Mar 12, 2010 1:10 PM EDT |
(Free Software Initiative), FSB (Free Software in Business), or even FSE (Free Software in the Enterprise or Free Software for Everyone). The OSI's original raison d'etre, as conceived by Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond, was to market free software for business, giving it a face distinct from those sandal-wearing communists of the Free Software Foundation. They even called the software something different: Open Source. Times have changed. That battle's been won. Thanks to Linux, Apache, MySQL, perl, php, yada, yada, and yet more yada, free software is all over the place - including America's largest corporations. The initial geek's wet-dream marketing pitch ("We have the CODE!!. We can do whatever we want with the CODE!) has outlived its usefulness. Free software awareness (even if they call it open source) extends beyond the geek enclaves and many users never so much as peek at a line of code. Worse, some faux "open" licenses -- look but don't touch and sure as heck don't tell anybody -- have muddied the water in some minds. The benefit of free software to business is the freedom to do what you need with it in order to run your business, whether or not you ever crack the code. That's a powerful sales pitch and the business world is ready to hear it. |
| bigg Mar 12, 2010 1:19 PM EDT |
I like FSE. Free Software in the Enterprise is more informative, and sounds like something that would appeal to businesses. |
| gus3 Mar 12, 2010 1:34 PM EDT |
I guaran-dang-tee it that the business corporation is the #1 type of entity that will confuse the meaning of "free". |
| dinotrac Mar 12, 2010 1:43 PM EDT |
gus3 - Yeah, but that confusion isn't as material as some (**cough** RMS!!!) would have you believe. From a corporate standpoint, free as in gratis translates into free as in libre. That's because spending money leaves a paper trail, requires approval, bureaucracy, etc. Once the initial introduction of free software, with all of the assorted corporate eyeballs and signatures, that free software means a lot of "nos" are cut from the chain. |
| hkwint Mar 12, 2010 2:38 PM EDT |
FSE would lead to confusion with FSFE, or am I the only one? |
| dinotrac Mar 12, 2010 5:11 PM EDT |
Hans - You're the only one. I thought you knew that by now. |
| gus3 Mar 12, 2010 5:37 PM EDT |
Oh? I thought I was confused, but I guess I wasn't. ... D'OH! |
| dinotrac Mar 12, 2010 6:06 PM EDT |
gus - Relax, you were confused. Not about that, but still confused. It's kind of cute, though. |
| hkwint Mar 13, 2010 11:36 AM EDT |
I'm the only one! Now everyone else, please leave LXer. I'm one, I'm _the_ one, all is one and I'm only that one and I'm the one only real only one! So, bettur, huh? Now I'm going to drink some coffee. Alone! |
| dinotrac Mar 13, 2010 12:35 PM EDT |
Hans -- You might want to go easy on that coffee. Just sayin'. |
| hkwint Mar 13, 2010 12:56 PM EDT |
Got it from the Dutch coffeeshops, you know. |
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