J
John Corliss
A long time ago in alt.comp.freeware, I warned that those who seek to
make a profit by disguising non-freeware as freeware would come into
this group and promote that kind of garbage. They would also attempt to
corrupt the definition of freeware by twisting it to mean something that
would serve their purposes.
There are also those *who don't care* that they're promoting
non-freeware in this group and who add to the problem. This can be due
to sheer laziness, a desire to be disruptive, or the person being a
commercial software shill.
Since off topic posting has been happening with increasing frequency
in ACF, I will again repost this edited version of one of my previous
messages.
Think of it as a wakeup call to the group and as an expression of *my
opinion*.
_You are free to disagree, but I will not answer replies to this post_.
***************************************
In my mind, Freeware is very clearly defined as being full-featured
software which is meant to be completely free to use -no strings
attached, monetary or otherwise, for as long as the user likes.
How do I define strings? They're any requirement (again, monetary or
otherwise) placed on you, the user, which are not related to the actual
functioning of the software and which must be complied with in order to
use the software.
This doesn't mean that certain types of non-freeware shouldn't be
recommended as solutions in this group, it's just that common sense
should tell you which types these are. For example:
Careware
Donationware
Liteware
Postcardware
are often discussed in this group. Still:
*Adware* is not freeware.
*Betaware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*Careware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here, but there
isn't a lot of it)
*CDware* is not freeware (unless it is freeware that's available on the
internet.)
*Commercial software* is not freeware.
*Crippleware* is not freeware.
*Demoware* is not freeware.
*Donationware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*"Free to download"* may or may not be freeware, but usually isn't.
*Fonts* are not freeware, they are data files.
*Free services* are not freeware, although the software required to use
such services (browsers for instance) may or may not be freeware.
*Liteware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*Nagware* is not freeware.
*Orphanware* is only freeware if the author specifically says that it is
when he/she drops support of the software.
*Pirated software* is not freeware.
*Postcardware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*Porno sites* are not freeware.
*PROmotionware is not freeware.
*Shareware* is not freeware.
*Spyware* is not freeware.
*Text and other data files* are not freeware.
*Time-limited software* is not freeware.
*Trialware* is not freeware.
*Trojans* are not freeware.
*Viruses and virus authoring* software are not freeware.
*Warez* is not freeware.
Not only that, but if a program is "sort of" any of these types, then it
definitely ISN'T freeware.
Here's a "little" prediction that will let you in on why I am so
vociferous about this issue:
**************************
Some day, your software BE IT COMMERCIAL or ANY OTHER VARIETY, will be
as overly saturated with commercials as U.S. network broadcast
television. Your time will be wasted wading through or simply being
forced to endure, endless and worthless static and animated messages
that squander your life force. You won't be able to type a document into
a word processor without wasting portions of your life viewing
commercials about products which are of absolutely NO interest to you.
(Men- consider how much you enjoy looking at women's hygiene and
cosmetic products during the evening news hour; women- how much you
enjoy watching beer commercials and ads for football games.
You buy a video movie and the first 10 minutes of it are "previews", or
commercials for other movies. Soon, there will be one commercial break
in the middle of the movie, then there will be two. Those breaks will
grow longer and then there will be three, etc. Now you can usually fast
forward through them, but this option is rapidly disappearing with the
advent of new media distribution types (DVDs force you to watch
copyright notices for instance). This also, is not speculation; it is
inevitable.
Software is NO DIFFERENT. You are sitting in front of an information
display, just like a television, and your undivided attention is being
given. According to the thinking of the villainous advertising
community, this opportunity MUST be exploited as closely as possible.
And right up to the point where you are repulsed by the act of surfing
the internet or running software. Then, as you become inured to the
level of the assault, it will be increased again.
Sooner or later, the villains of this world will insidiously infest and
cram commercial content into everything you view. In fact they have
already begun to do so, and the speed and thoroughness at which they
will perform this villainy will increase at a logarithmic rate.
This is not just a possibility, it's in fact what the future holds for
us. It's one of the reasons why there's such a big push to put all
software online; so that the makers of such software can control it with
immediacy; so that they will be able to alter the commercials that will
be contained in the software as well as monitor our behavior while online.
IMO Bill Gates and Microsoft want a future where you WILL be online
whenever you use your computer. Period.
We are all subject to the whims of those in the world who can't control
their own greed (such as Gates and Microsoft) and such people will never
go away. In fact, as our population increases uncontrollably towards our
own massive extinction in the not too distant future, the ratio of those
who employ unethical methods to survive to those who don't will only
increase.
As we continue to usurp the carrying capacity of other species and
cause their extinction, we increasingly prey upon ourselves.
We are all victims.
******************************
Sounds pretty far fetched? It's already happening. I continually get
email messages from friends and relatives with little advertisements at
the bottom of the message. Microsoft continually plugs their services
and other software from *within their commercial software!* Adware has
reared its ugly head and is being promoted by many in this group as
being true freeware. You click for the first time on any link in certain
pages (or anywhere on the page for that matter) and a miserable popup
appears.
This is what I dread, and am fighting tooth and claw. I also dread:
* the eventual future where Microsoft controls who can and who cannot
write any software.
* a future where Microsoft has effectively and completely taken over the
software market.
* a future where your activities are monitored all the time as the
natural outcome of "Orwellian creep"
The freeware movement can produce tools to fight against this
oppression. That's why it's so important to protect the definition of
freeware.
We are all adherents of the third law of thermodynamics, i.e. "any
system which uses energy will devote a portion of that energy to
degrading the ability of the system to use energy. Ultimately, the
system will be unable to use energy and will fail."
Human society is a system which uses energy. In this case, entropy
leads to decadence, and rampant commercialism is the worst kind of such
lowering of the quality of life.
Entropy is hard at work in this newsgroup as well, when I see people
attempting to water down the meaning of the term "freeware" due to
laziness, a resentment of "being told what to do" or so as to profit
monetarily.
Perhaps it's inevitable that this newsgroup should someday be consumed
by spammers, trolls and off-topic discussions of non-freeware.
I would like to see that day put off as long as possible.
make a profit by disguising non-freeware as freeware would come into
this group and promote that kind of garbage. They would also attempt to
corrupt the definition of freeware by twisting it to mean something that
would serve their purposes.
There are also those *who don't care* that they're promoting
non-freeware in this group and who add to the problem. This can be due
to sheer laziness, a desire to be disruptive, or the person being a
commercial software shill.
Since off topic posting has been happening with increasing frequency
in ACF, I will again repost this edited version of one of my previous
messages.
Think of it as a wakeup call to the group and as an expression of *my
opinion*.
_You are free to disagree, but I will not answer replies to this post_.
***************************************
In my mind, Freeware is very clearly defined as being full-featured
software which is meant to be completely free to use -no strings
attached, monetary or otherwise, for as long as the user likes.
How do I define strings? They're any requirement (again, monetary or
otherwise) placed on you, the user, which are not related to the actual
functioning of the software and which must be complied with in order to
use the software.
This doesn't mean that certain types of non-freeware shouldn't be
recommended as solutions in this group, it's just that common sense
should tell you which types these are. For example:
Careware
Donationware
Liteware
Postcardware
are often discussed in this group. Still:
*Adware* is not freeware.
*Betaware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*Careware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here, but there
isn't a lot of it)
*CDware* is not freeware (unless it is freeware that's available on the
internet.)
*Commercial software* is not freeware.
*Crippleware* is not freeware.
*Demoware* is not freeware.
*Donationware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*"Free to download"* may or may not be freeware, but usually isn't.
*Fonts* are not freeware, they are data files.
*Free services* are not freeware, although the software required to use
such services (browsers for instance) may or may not be freeware.
*Liteware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*Nagware* is not freeware.
*Orphanware* is only freeware if the author specifically says that it is
when he/she drops support of the software.
*Pirated software* is not freeware.
*Postcardware* is not freeware (although sometimes discussed here)
*Porno sites* are not freeware.
*PROmotionware is not freeware.
*Shareware* is not freeware.
*Spyware* is not freeware.
*Text and other data files* are not freeware.
*Time-limited software* is not freeware.
*Trialware* is not freeware.
*Trojans* are not freeware.
*Viruses and virus authoring* software are not freeware.
*Warez* is not freeware.
Not only that, but if a program is "sort of" any of these types, then it
definitely ISN'T freeware.
Here's a "little" prediction that will let you in on why I am so
vociferous about this issue:
**************************
Some day, your software BE IT COMMERCIAL or ANY OTHER VARIETY, will be
as overly saturated with commercials as U.S. network broadcast
television. Your time will be wasted wading through or simply being
forced to endure, endless and worthless static and animated messages
that squander your life force. You won't be able to type a document into
a word processor without wasting portions of your life viewing
commercials about products which are of absolutely NO interest to you.
(Men- consider how much you enjoy looking at women's hygiene and
cosmetic products during the evening news hour; women- how much you
enjoy watching beer commercials and ads for football games.
You buy a video movie and the first 10 minutes of it are "previews", or
commercials for other movies. Soon, there will be one commercial break
in the middle of the movie, then there will be two. Those breaks will
grow longer and then there will be three, etc. Now you can usually fast
forward through them, but this option is rapidly disappearing with the
advent of new media distribution types (DVDs force you to watch
copyright notices for instance). This also, is not speculation; it is
inevitable.
Software is NO DIFFERENT. You are sitting in front of an information
display, just like a television, and your undivided attention is being
given. According to the thinking of the villainous advertising
community, this opportunity MUST be exploited as closely as possible.
And right up to the point where you are repulsed by the act of surfing
the internet or running software. Then, as you become inured to the
level of the assault, it will be increased again.
Sooner or later, the villains of this world will insidiously infest and
cram commercial content into everything you view. In fact they have
already begun to do so, and the speed and thoroughness at which they
will perform this villainy will increase at a logarithmic rate.
This is not just a possibility, it's in fact what the future holds for
us. It's one of the reasons why there's such a big push to put all
software online; so that the makers of such software can control it with
immediacy; so that they will be able to alter the commercials that will
be contained in the software as well as monitor our behavior while online.
IMO Bill Gates and Microsoft want a future where you WILL be online
whenever you use your computer. Period.
We are all subject to the whims of those in the world who can't control
their own greed (such as Gates and Microsoft) and such people will never
go away. In fact, as our population increases uncontrollably towards our
own massive extinction in the not too distant future, the ratio of those
who employ unethical methods to survive to those who don't will only
increase.
As we continue to usurp the carrying capacity of other species and
cause their extinction, we increasingly prey upon ourselves.
We are all victims.
******************************
Sounds pretty far fetched? It's already happening. I continually get
email messages from friends and relatives with little advertisements at
the bottom of the message. Microsoft continually plugs their services
and other software from *within their commercial software!* Adware has
reared its ugly head and is being promoted by many in this group as
being true freeware. You click for the first time on any link in certain
pages (or anywhere on the page for that matter) and a miserable popup
appears.
This is what I dread, and am fighting tooth and claw. I also dread:
* the eventual future where Microsoft controls who can and who cannot
write any software.
* a future where Microsoft has effectively and completely taken over the
software market.
* a future where your activities are monitored all the time as the
natural outcome of "Orwellian creep"
The freeware movement can produce tools to fight against this
oppression. That's why it's so important to protect the definition of
freeware.
We are all adherents of the third law of thermodynamics, i.e. "any
system which uses energy will devote a portion of that energy to
degrading the ability of the system to use energy. Ultimately, the
system will be unable to use energy and will fail."
Human society is a system which uses energy. In this case, entropy
leads to decadence, and rampant commercialism is the worst kind of such
lowering of the quality of life.
Entropy is hard at work in this newsgroup as well, when I see people
attempting to water down the meaning of the term "freeware" due to
laziness, a resentment of "being told what to do" or so as to profit
monetarily.
Perhaps it's inevitable that this newsgroup should someday be consumed
by spammers, trolls and off-topic discussions of non-freeware.
I would like to see that day put off as long as possible.
