[linux-audio-user] Re: Free Software vs. Open Source: Where do *you* stand?

[Cesare Marilungo]

Lee Revell wrote:

>On Tue, 2006-02-21 at 22:23 -0500, Ross Vandegrift wrote:
>  
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>>A song, novel, poem, picture, all have representations that are not
>>integers.  In particular, they are objects (though I contend
>>that the relevant fact is that they are not integers).
>>
>>    
>>
>
>Sorry I beg to differ, ever hear of an "MP3"?
>
>Lee
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>  
>
In fact sharing mp3 files shouldn't be illegal. It is another example of 
artificial scarcity.

Every sincere developer will tell you that there aren't many different 
ways of opening a WAV file, mixing two audio streams or write a low pass 
filter. Maybe, the creative part of programming could be in the way you 
organize the code or in the aesthetics of your data structures etc.

Likewise, the technical aspects of the various tasks in CS are (or 
should be) taught at the universities. It is a science indeed. Consider 
than before gnu/Linux you didn't have the possibility to study the 
source code of a full fledged operating systems.

That's the strength of open source. It is made by people who understand 
this simple fact: intellectual property is an oxymoron.

Copyright is important for the GPL. And GPL has been crucial for the 
success of open source.
But copyright is important just because we live in an age where it seems 
to be the only coin of the realm.

c.
-- 
www.cesaremarilungo.com