DevBlog

For many years Whil Hentzen has been a huge proponent of FoxPro. He still is. He's just become a huge proponent of open source in the past couple of years. But in his November 9 blog, he states something that is evidence to me that the pro-open source arguements just don't hold water. Whil says,

"There are general reasons why all computer users should insist on free software. It gives users the freedom to control their own computers--with proprietary software, the computer does what the software owner wants it to do, not what you want it to do. And it gives users the freedom to cooperate with each other, to lead an upright life."

I have to question this. How would a choice to use OpenOffice be any different than a choice to use Microsoft Office? In either case, I as the end user of the products, can only do what the designers and coders have put into the product. How does using OpenOffice allow me to do what I want to do any more than Microsoft Office? How does using Microsoft Office prohibit me from cooperating with anyone? And is Whil implying that because I use Microsoft Office that I don't lead an upright life?

Now, to be fair, I think there is good and bad in both the open source and proprietary source models. But, it's time for some real thinking and arguements that make sense.