On Saturday 2002-04-13 at 14:39:03 -0700, Jason Wharton wrote:

> The "free beer" mindset makes it VERY difficult for innovators like me who

How do you distinguish the "free beer" mindset from the Free Software
mindset? They are not equivalent. "Freeware" is software you don't pay
for. Free Software is software that gives you the freedoms you need to
control your life (as far as software ever does that).

Many people try to equate Free Software with Open Source with
Freeware. They do this for their own reasons. One reason is that they
don't want people to start thinking in terms of freedoms, but only
price. They want people to continue to think that functionality and
price are the only things that differentiate software. It would be
dangerous to the interests of some, if people were to realise that the
freedoms inherent in Free Software directly affect the essence of what
the software is. The likes of Microsoft, for instance, like nothing
better than to put forward their arguments within an environment in
which the premise that the choice of software should be based on
pragmatic functionality and price factors alone, goes unquestioned.

I put forward the thesis that ownership of software as property is
ultimately more harmful to society than beneficial.

Your IBObjects, with its "trustware" model, at least goes part of the
way towards conferring some of the benefits of Free Software. That's
something that many can be grateful for, and for which you should be
commended.

Firebird, on the other hand, qualifies as Free Software, even though
its licensing is problematic (it creates inequality between the
parties who have a stake in the future of Firebird).

David Trudgett