Free software

I suppose you could call me a free software user, contributor, and maybe activist(?). So free software...

what

If you don't know what free software is (i.e., you aren't convinced that it's great), see the intro to free software. If you only think of free software as software that you don't (need to) pay for, like free beer, then (hint, hint) you don't know what free software is.

me

In May 2006, I decided to try out GNU/Linux by installing Fedora Core 5. In a month I switched to Ubuntu 6.06, in part because of my dislike for yum. Then I kept going back and forth between GNOME (Ubuntu) and KDE (Kubuntu).

When I finally thought I had settled, an experiment to make my computer faster brought me to Xfce (Xubuntu). One thing led to another while obsessions with apt and dpkg grew (e.g. apt upgrading to Debian unstable).

I did a fresh install of Debian testing with LXDE in May 2009. GNU Screen (terminal) became my secondary environment in August 2010.

related rants

• Why Public Education Must Use Public Software

  Argument in favor of promoting and using free software for public education in the United States.

• Software: The User's Rights

  Comparison of free software with proprietary software.

• IP Licensing (Patent Satire)

  Fictional story with anti- genetic, software, and business patent sentiments.