KOZHIKODE: The advocates of proprietary software never stand for the development of the sector by extending freedom to the users, said Richard Stallman, founder of Free Software Movement. Addressing the national conference on ‘Free Software and Education,’ organised by the National Institute of Technology-Calicut, he said that the exponents of copyrighted software were trying to limit the freedom of the software users by penalising them in the name of piracy.
The denial of freedom to computer users to alter or modify the source code would be an injustice, opined Stallman who is the pioneer of free software movement. He added that the tradition to penalise the ones who modify the software and punish them for piracy would only help to divide the people into two categories. Besides the technical side, the matter concerns with the ethical and social concerns of the freedom of users, reiterated Richard Stallman while delivering the keynote address at Tagore Centenary Hall here on Friday.
The supporters of proprietor software always wanted to categorise the persons who share the software among their friends as pirates, pointed out Stallman. A revolutionary change in this field is possible only when one gets the full freedom to alter the source code for preparing the software for his needs, he added. The advocates of proprietary software are controlling the user from controlling his own computer by restricting their freedom to alter or modify the software used by him, quipped Stallman. Public should join the Free Software Movement and fight against the false propagations of various groups against free software activists, he urged.
A Pradeep Kumar MLA opened the three-day seminar, organised in connection with the golden jubilee celebrations of NIT-C. G R C Reddy, director of NIT-C presided over the function. Lecture demonstration on FOSS in Malayalam was held prior to the inauguration of the seminar.
The national conference will be held at NIT-C on Saturday and Sunday. Prominent speakers from different NITs and IITs will attend the conference. Free software activists of Uruguay Juan Carlos Gentle, Italian Lawyer Marco Ursino and Eben Moglen, professor of Colombia University will also be arranged for the participants.
