Professional Documents
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Free Data Formats,
an opportunity for Everyone
Paolo Pedaletti: Paolo.Pedaletti@OpenLabs.it
Copyright (c) 2005 Paolo Pedaletti
ver. 20170817
Mahatma Gandhi
Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
Index
Introduction.......................................................................................................page 3
Free Software definition....................................................................................page 4
What is NOT Free Software...............................................................................page 5
Free Data Format definition..............................................................................page 5
Examples of Free Information used commercially............................................page 6
Possibility of commercial use of Free Software................................................page 7
Benefits of developing Free Software...............................................................page 8
Free Software, the value is in the freedom.......................................................page 8
The obstacles to Free Software.......................................................................page 10
The real problem.............................................................................................page 13
Conclusion.......................................................................................................page 13
Linkography.....................................................................................................page 14
Addendum........................................................................................................page 15
Economic effects..........................................................................................page 15
Data accessibility.........................................................................................page 15
Where were you?.............................................................................................page 16
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
Introduction
With this document I will try to explain why it's opportune to use Free Software
and Free Data Formats rather than proprietary software/closed formats.1
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
Fig. 1: General scheme on the relationship between differences of main software licenses:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
How is it possible to base a commercial activity on software (or data formats) with
such freedom?
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
4 any comparison has some limits of validity, they are only similes with some exceptions
5 This myth of universal equality has industrial origin, when perfect pieces were only and only
one identical to the master piece, and even a small difference was synonym of defect. This
theory applied to the human beings is deeply wrong. We are all different (different doesn't mean
inferior or superior, but only unique), and this is our main strength.
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
In this way there is an enormous contractual power from both the parts.
From the point of view of the supplier of solutions, he/she can be paid as much as
is necessary the provided added value.
From the client's point of view, he/she can choose the level of quality of the
supplier of solutions on the basis of his own choice, taste, budget. He/she doesn't
depend on a single supplier anymore with all the benefits that derive from it (50
is too much for you? You are free to find someone else, much cheaper but hopefully
with the same skill, performance and professionality).
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
6 contrary to other more permissive licenses such as the BSD license, which allow the software
created freely to become closed / proprietary.
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
Monopoly is
in the economic field
what dictatorship is
in the social field:
a lack of freedom
of choice.
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
7 http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html
8 Symplifyng:
if I copyright an house on a mountain, I have all the rights on that house,
if I patent an house on a mountain, I have all the rights on every house on every mountains.
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
The misunderstanding comes from the mistake of not considering the intrinsic and
fundamental differences between matter and the information:
Uniqueness
MATERIAL: it's necessarily "localized"
My watch is on my wrist, and if it "appears" on someone else wrist, it
means necessary that it has disappeared from mine
INFORMATION: to communicate the information that I own doesn't
imply that I "forget" it (not necessarily)
Duplicability
MATERIAL: it's not easily duplicable
My watch surely it's not the only one existing in the world, but to
duplicate it it's necessary a not negligible amount of energy, prime-
material, work and time
INFORMATION: digital information is easily duplicable with a
consumption of practically negligible energy/material/work/time
Customization
MATERIAL: it's hardly editable/customizable.
It's sufficient to consider a car, and think of change the color of the
chassis or the interns. Any modification is surely expensive (many percent
point of value of the car)
INFORMATION: digital information is easily editable / customizable.
Obviously you need to have a knowledge (even if only superficial) of the
language which the program has been written in (having available the
source code)
Transportation
MATERIAL: to transport matter from one place to another costs a lot.
Generally, the cost is directly proportional to the quantity of matter and
the distance to cross
INFORMATION: it's easy to transport and the cost of the transport is
practically insignificant, if you don't consider really notable quantities of
information (encyclopedias? libraries?)
Movement speed
MATERIAL: the velocity of transport/diffusion is very slow
(compared to the information)
INFORMATION; the velocity of transport/diffusion is very hight
(compared to the material)
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
It is evident that
the greatest part of the "natural" property of the material
is ballast for information.9
Coming from an economy based on the exchange of material, there are those who
find it normal (but only for mental inertia) "to stick" to the old properties to the
new good (the information), while on the other side there are those who realize
this useless ballast and would gladly act without them.
But why do we persist with old traditions, if now we can do it better?
Why bring along the old limitations, if it's possible to act without them?
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
Conclusion
I hope to have clarified what Free Software and Free Data Formats really mean,
and why it is important to keep on guaranteeing the freedom of choice that we
have earned with so much hard work in the real world, also in the digital world,
toward which we are heading.11
Paolo Pedaletti
paolo.pedaletti@openlabs.it
10 The war between Free vs closed software/data formats is the updated version of war(s) in the
past century between people pro Freedom (Democracy) and people against it
(monarchy/dictatorship).
Less blood, same target.
11 Translated from Italian with the contribution of Federica Grisoni and Emma Quick.
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
Linkography
Useful links:
Andrew Oram: Promoting Open Source Software in Government
Marco Fioretti: Cos' pi importante, l'alfabeto o la penna?
Marco Fioretti: How to turn into Free Software supporters people who couldn't
care less
Simone Aliprandi: http://www.standardaperti.it
Simone Aliprandi: http://www.copyleft-italia.it
Paolo Pedaletti: http://www.scribd.com/doc/932152/Software-Libero-una-
opportunita-per-tutti
Richard Stallman: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-
point.en.html
John Mark Walker: https://opensource.com/business/16/11/open-source-not-free-
software
Bill Gates Lawyers: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement
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Free Software and Free Data Formats, an opportunity for Everyone Paolo Pedaletti
Addendum
Economic effects
The use of open formats would permit the free and public data distribution of
commonly called OpenData12, data that
could be analyzed, correlated and republished/sold developing a market and
a business that is now very limited
could permit citizen to be informed/aware about the effects of their lifestyle
and their actions.
Data accessibility
Concerning data accessibility in the long term13, two different problems must be
distinguished:
hardware accessibility: physical support must be accessible/readable, otherwise
even if I own it I won't be able to access the information contained inside (who still
has a 8' or 5'1/4 floppy drive?)
software accessibility: format, if it's in open format, it means that technical
specifications are freely available and freely implementable. This guarantees the
accessibility of the information memorized in those formats for a very long time
without any (artificial) legal obligation.
This feature (of data accessibility without constrains over a long period) is
indispensable for a State (hopefully a long term project...).14
12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_data
http://www.data.gov/
http://data.gov.uk/
13 Obsolescenza digitale, Medioevo Digitale, Preservazione Digitale
14 http://www.pubbliaccesso.gov.it/biblioteca/manualistica/documentielettronici.htm
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Where were you?
Mike Godwin
Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://eff.org