I ACTUALLY, FOR THE FIRST TIME, UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS HAPPENING! YAY!
Go Adam Go!
HERE IS WHAT I GRASPED FROM THE LECTURE...
Free Software, Open Source, Creative Commons, Electronic Frontiers Foundation
The more we use computers to create things, the more we put our lives up on the internet, the more important it is to be aware of how the law affects our choices.
Commercial software that is extremely expensive is known as proprietary software- software that is owned by the company that sells it.
Computer programmers- the people who write the instructions that make computer programs work. The instructions that programmers write are referred to as source code, or code. This source code that commercial companies write is usually locked. You can't change a program without getting access to its code. You can't fix problems if you find them, so you have to wait for the owner to put out updates and patches- Windows. You could reverse engineer the software, but it is illegal to reverse engineer that code to find out how it works.- Free and Open Source Software refers to a kind of software that is different to Proprietary Software in a number of significant ways
Founder of the Free Software Foundation- Richard M. Stallman.
· Users can run software for any purpose.
· Users can closely examine software and can freely modify it to meet their needs.
· Users can give copies of software to others.
· Users can freely distribute their improvements to the broader public. - Part of the way that Open Source software works is the idea of Copyleft (Stallman- "copyright flipped over"). It is concept behind putting stuff on net for free. The legally-binding contract that controls FS is called the GPL (General Public License), it protects those who invest time into making really good programs that are not sold for commercial gain.
The FS model was the computing community until Microsoft said proprietary software was the best business model for making profits. Economically, legally, and morally FS allows you access to software that does what it says it will without having restrictions.
The internet would not exist if it wasn't for free software.
Some common examples of open source programs:
· Alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer you can try ‘Mozilla’s Firefox’. It is quicker at loading pages. It's available for all operating systems. You can customise it.
Alternative to Microsoft Office there is 'Open office'.
The 'GNU/Linux operating System is free alternative to Windows or MacOS. You can do anything on Linux that you can do with windows. CD versions available so you don’t have to install anything on hard drive.
MSN messenger,- there's different programs you can get which are available that will let you use any of the IM networks.
Photoshop alternative- GIMP.
The Creative Commons
People have used FS and copyleft and applied it create what they call 'The Creative Commons'. If want your work to be free from copyright but still be subject to legal protection as original creator, you can apply a creative commons license.
You can use Creative Commons licenses on your blog content, on your photos and images, on your music files, on your home page. It gives us the freedom to use information responsibly, morally and legally without fear of being sued by big corporation who has enough money to hire a team of lawyers to make full use of the legal system.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The EFF deals with the law and digital media across the whole spectrum. They are concerned with keeping the internet open for people to have access to, without being restricted by govt and corporate interests.
EFF and the Creative Commons are non-profit orgs.
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