Uk magazine PcPro n.143 recently published an article about "Free Software", the one that usually gives on your nerves if you are a frequent user of this mailing list. My letter to the magazine is also a poor man's summary of the article:
Dear Sirs,
your recent article "Free Software and why we avoid it", PcPro 143, annoys me a bit.
It's not about whether I agree with it or not; itÂ’s about the way you present information.
Firstly, you confuse your readers by putting 'Free Software' (Linux, the Gimp, Firefox, Apache), 'freeware' (Ad-Aware, AVG, WinZip Zone Alarm) and even the infamous Nigerian 419 scam on the same plate. Why not involve the paedophiles and Al-Qaeda, while you're there?
Then you define Richard Stallman as "Linux co-creator", "Microsoft-hating" and "near Communist". I'll leave that to anyone with access to a search engine to determine if it's true or not (by the way, what does 'near Communist' mean? Coming from a country where the Communist Party had 30% of the votes, you are either Communist or not).
Further on it is stated that the OSI (Open Source Initiative) was merely an 'image makeover' (disputable but legitimate opinion) and you even compare it to Tony Blair's New Labour. Now, only readers from outside the UK would not realize how offensive this statement could be (incidentally, in doing that, you could have regained the sympathy of Mr Stallman, who is probably more "OSI hater" than "MS hater").
In short, given the technical calibre of your magazine, I think this is an example of disinformation.
Regards
Ottavio Caruso
Ottavio Caruso --
No individual replies, please!
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