What is..?

[option2]

What is this Free and Open Source Software you speak of and how does it pertain to Strategy Club?

[piratenovelist]

I am sorry.
It seems that strategyguy has been ignoring a few posts.
I again apologize for this and will find and talk to him.

[strategyguy]

don't worry guys, I am typing an explanation to Free and Open Source Software.

Just have to sit down and get around to it.

[strategyguy]

Alright, the answer is here at last.

ok, so what is FOSS, you ask?

Well, it stands for

Free (and)
Open
Source
Software

You may now be thinking to yourself, "FOSS? Isn't that communist/anarchistic/leeching?"
No it is actually not.

The term "FOSS" not only encompasses the software but also the method for creating that software.

The four fundamental rights of free software/FOSS software:

* Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
* Freedom 1: The freedom to study and modify the program.
* Freedom 2: The freedom to copy the program so you can help your neighbour.
* Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

With freedoms 1 and 3, the source code is needed to be freely available.

Just because it is free, does not mean that programmers do not get paid.
There are several ways in which programmers can be paid with FOSS software.

* Working for companies who need the software modified.
* Teaching Classes on how to use the software.
* Writing Documentation on how to use the software.
* Become Self-Employed and fixing software errors.
* Technical support.
* Donations
* Selling T-Shirts and other goods to promote the software.
* Convincing other entities to switch to FOSS, saving them "a few dollars."
* And so much more.

Some More information on free software/FOSS:

Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_Open_Source_Software

GNU:
www.gnu.org/
www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu.html
www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
www.gnu.org/links/links.html#FreedomOrganizations

Free Software Foundation:
www.fsf.org/

Linux Kernel:
www.linux.org/

Free Documentation:
en.flossmanuals.net/

Ubuntu (FOSS operating system, very easy to use.)
www.ubuntu.com/

identi.ca (microblogging service that runs of FOSS software):
identi.ca

Pidgin (FOSS replacement for many proprietary protocols such as AOL messenger and Yahoo messenger.):
www.pidgin.im/

OpenOffice.org (FOSS replacement for Microsoft Office):
www.openoffice.org/

VLC player (FOSS replacement for proprietary media players):
www.videolan.org/

Richard Stallman's Personal Homepage (Does not reflect beliefs of Free Software/FOSS):
en.flossmanuals.net/

A book about Richard Stallman's crusade for FOSS software, "Free as in Freedom":
oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/index.html


more information coming soon: