https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/Recent content in Free software on Technical NotesHugoen-ushttps://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/01-quand-le-logiciel-privateur-nous-abandonne/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/01-quand-le-logiciel-privateur-nous-abandonne/<div class="book-toc-inline"> <div class="markdown-inner"> <nav id="TableOfContents"> <ul> <li><a href="#why-this-article">Why this article</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-1--the-music-school-and-microsoft-access">Experience 1 — The music school and Microsoft Access</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-2--homelidays-and-the-millions-of-lines-of-classic-asp">Experience 2 — Homelidays and the millions of lines of Classic ASP</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-3--visual-studio-and-the-deleted-msi-installer-projects">Experience 3 — Visual Studio and the deleted MSI installer projects</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-4--the-consignment-shop-and-the-windows-licence">Experience 4 — The consignment shop and the Windows licence</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-5--windows-7-then-windows-10-imposed-waste">Experience 5 — Windows 7 then Windows 10: imposed waste</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-6--windows-phone-a-new-phone-with-every-generation">Experience 6 — Windows Phone: a new phone with every generation</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-7--onedrive-and-our-family-photos">Experience 7 — OneDrive and our family photos</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-8--balsamiq-and-the-imprisoned-file-format">Experience 8 — Balsamiq and the imprisoned file format</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-9--pc-soft-changing-the-rules-mid-game">Experience 9 — PC Soft: changing the rules mid-game</a></li> <li><a href="#experience-10--azure-devops-projects-trapped-in-their-collection">Experience 10 — Azure DevOps: projects trapped in their collection</a></li> <li><a href="#the-common-thread-who-really-controls-the-software">The common thread: who really controls the software?</a></li> <li><a href="#free-software-regaining-room-to-manoeuvre">Free software: regaining room to manoeuvre</a></li> <li><a href="#and-me-in-all-this-a-path-not-a-posture">And me, in all this? A path, not a posture</a></li> <li><a href="#conclusion">Conclusion</a></li> <li><a href="#sources-and-references">Sources and references</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <h2 id="why-this-article">Why this article<a class="anchor" href="#why-this-article">#</a></h2> <p>I spent more than twenty years developing and architecting software. Over those years, I watched the same scenario repeat itself: a technology company decides, <strong>alone and unilaterally</strong>, to abandon a technology, break compatibility, change a price or a licence — and users, freelancers, associations, whole companies find themselves left high and dry. Not by accident, but because the very model of <strong>proprietary software</strong> allows it.</p>https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/02-licences-permissives-freebsd/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/02-licences-permissives-freebsd/<div class="book-toc-inline"> <div class="markdown-inner"> <nav id="TableOfContents"> <ul> <li><a href="#what-is-a-permissive-licence">What is a permissive licence?</a></li> <li><a href="#freebsd-a-complete-operating-system-free-and-permissive">FreeBSD, a complete operating system, free… and permissive</a></li> <li><a href="#how-the-giants-exploit-freebsd">How the giants exploit FreeBSD</a> <ul> <li><a href="#netflix-the-invisible-infrastructure">Netflix: the invisible infrastructure</a></li> <li><a href="#sony-playstation-the-locked-fortress">Sony PlayStation: the locked fortress</a></li> <li><a href="#apple-the-technological-frankenstein">Apple: the technological Frankenstein</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="#the-nuance-what-the-giants-really-give-back">The nuance: what the giants really give back</a></li> <li><a href="#and-copyleft">And copyleft?</a></li> <li><a href="#sources-and-references">Sources and references</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <p>In the <a href="../01-quand-le-logiciel-privateur-nous-abandonne/">founding article of this series</a>, I recounted how proprietary software ends up abandoning its users. The answer I champion is free software. But &ldquo;free&rdquo; is not a single block: there are two great families of licences, with opposing philosophies.</p>https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/03-licences-copyleft/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/03-licences-copyleft/<div class="book-toc-inline"> <div class="markdown-inner"> <nav id="TableOfContents"> <ul> <li><a href="#what-is-copyleft">What is copyleft?</a></li> <li><a href="#how-the-gpl-came-to-be">How the GPL came to be</a></li> <li><a href="#two-axes-to-keep-from-getting-lost">Two axes to keep from getting lost</a></li> <li><a href="#the-gpl-family-lgpl-gpl-agpl-the-strength-axis">The GPL family: LGPL, GPL, AGPL (the &ldquo;strength&rdquo; axis)</a></li> <li><a href="#tivoization-and-the-asymmetry-of-power">Tivoization and the asymmetry of power</a></li> <li><a href="#beyond-tivoization-the-other-contributions-of-gplv3">Beyond tivoization: the other contributions of GPLv3</a></li> <li><a href="#two-philosophies-one-wish">Two philosophies, one wish</a></li> <li><a href="#sources-and-references">Sources and references</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <p>The <a href="../02-licences-permissives-freebsd/">first instalment of this series</a> explored <strong>permissive</strong> licences (BSD, MIT, Apache) through FreeBSD: they leave everyone free to do what they like with the code, <strong>including closing it back up</strong>. Here is their counterpart: <strong>copyleft</strong> licences.</p>https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/04-torvalds-gplv3/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://yanal.fargialla.com/en/logiciel-libre/04-torvalds-gplv3/<div class="book-toc-inline"> <div class="markdown-inner"> <nav id="TableOfContents"> <ul> <li><a href="#a-preliminary-point-gplv2-only-not-v2-or-later">A preliminary point: &ldquo;GPLv2 only,&rdquo; not &ldquo;v2 or later&rdquo;</a></li> <li><a href="#the-core-objection-the-licence-covers-the-software-not-the-hardware">The core objection: the licence covers the software, not the hardware</a></li> <li><a href="#pro-drm-what-he-actually-said">&ldquo;Pro-DRM&rdquo;: what he actually said</a></li> <li><a href="#the-real-divide-fsf-ethics-versus-open-source-pragmatism">The real divide: FSF ethics versus open-source pragmatism</a></li> <li><a href="#in-short">In short</a></li> <li><a href="#sources-and-references">Sources and references</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <p>In the <a href="../03-licences-copyleft/">previous article on copyleft licences</a>, one detail was worth pausing on properly: <strong>GPLv3</strong> (2007) added an <strong>anti-tivoization</strong> clause, and the <strong>Linux kernel</strong> never moved to GPLv3. The most visible opponent of that version: <strong>Linus Torvalds</strong>, the creator of Linux.</p>