a teaser
(click for full image)
‘Mark my words, or something.’
Marc Fleury, of JBoss fame, who is – he says – ‘retired’, he’s enjoying the millions he packed from the JBoss venture. When not playing on a PS3, he writes some fairly interesting stuff. Like the post bellow, written yesterday.
When the GPL makes complete sense
Before I forget all about this software world, I wanted to put in a word for the GPL for a different reason that I have done in the past.
Explaining the advantages of freedom for software in a business setting was always a difficult excercise. Reading a manifesto makes you look like a bomb throwing anarchist most of the time. So in fact we focused on the free as in beer, as opposed to the free as in freedom when it comes to corporate america.
But place yourself at the point of singularity. In 10, 20 or maybe 200 years, man and machine will merge. Increasingly we will use software to control functions of the body.
In that world, you want to have “free software” as in “freedom”. Money wont really be the issue, freedom to run and modify will be. You want freedom to run the software that backs up your memories, you want the freedom to modify the HUD software in your field of vision. Imagine waiting for “human service pack 3.1″ to fix bugs, it can’t be. Imagine your software shutting down because you haven’t paid your subscription dues. Un-imaginable.
The notion of “free-men” will take on a new dimension. It will come to signify those that are running free software in their bodies and are fully in control of that body software. The GPL makes complete sense in that perspective.
Mark my words, or something.