[Ichthux-devel] Penguin in the Pew Available

[Don Parris]

On Wed, 4 May 2005 09:08:55 +0200
Raphaël Pinson <raphink at gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Don,

What I'm surprised with, is that it's not free.
- Not free in what it costs, but since it is the goal to clear that up it's
only a good example, and most of the first open-source programs were not
free in terms on money.

- But it's also not free in he sense of not open-source. Sure the book has
to be bought, the but sxw sources are not avaiblable either.

I didn't know you were to have people pay for this paper, and I was
wondering about packaging it for ichthux, but I guess I cannot package for
Debian something that is not free...

Anyway this is a great work, and seems very interesting to read. I know
quite a lot of people who would like to read such a paper about open-source
:)
--------------------

Interesting.  You should read my latest blog entry over at lulu.  One of the
guys on the Christiansource e-mail list offered similar comments.  My
response is now my latest blog entry.

A book is not software, technically speaking, and has to be treated somewhat
differently because of that.  If PitP were strictly a manual, it would be
wise to release it under the GNU FDL.  However, it presents arguments - very
often my own opinion - on a number of levels (financial, technical,
philosophical, etc.) as to why Christians and churches should use FOSS. 
Software is modifiable; my opinions are not - at least not by others.

That said, I have - and will continue to do so - make the source document
available to those who wish to interpret upon request.  Because PitP 2.0 is
released under the Creative Commons License (Attribution+No-Derivs), people
are free to redistribute it.  Thus, if one purchases a PDF copy of PitP,
then they could legally drop it into their favorite GNU/Linux distro - and I
wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. ;)

There are three reasons I am charging for this edition:
(1) The OOo marketing team discussed BookCrossings, and suggested I could
get a hard-copy book done through Lulu or Cafe Press.

(2) If you look inside the front of PitP 1.0, you'll notice a little
statement requesting a small contribution to support our ministry's efforts.
 We are not a large, self-sustaining ministry, and therefore depend almost
entirely on external contributions.  Of the thousands who have downloaded
PitP 1.0, one single person offered to contribute something.

(3) To prove a point related to the "free as in freedom" issue.  So many
people argue that if they allow sharing of their work, then they won't get
paid.  I do not believe that.  The book "Free Culture" lends supporting
evidence that I should not believe that.  So I am stepping out in faith,
knowing that the principle is correct.  I should still be able to earn
something, even if I don't necessarily get to retire tomorrow.  I am so sick
of the "FOSS=non-commercial" mentality among some folks in the movement.

Purchasing copies of PitP 2.0 supports our FOSS advocacy efforts locally. 
What I do is part of The Freely Project - as far as I know, I'm one of the
very few on Freely actually *doing* something to advocate FOSS.  Since I'm
not independently wealthy, well, I need help.  I plan to run an ad campaign
among other things.

I know I got wordy, but I hope that helps to clear up any confusion.  You
should be able to package the PDF with Debian.  Check with their licensing
folks.  BTW, it was RMS who suggested a license that does not permit
modification.  I'll let you read the blog for the rest.  If you have further
comments or questions, don't hesitate to let me know. :)

Blessings,
Don
-- 
evangelinux    GNU Evangelist
http://matheteuo.org/                   http://chaddb.sourceforge.net/
"Free software is like God's love - you can share it with anyone anytime
anywhere."