Let's work through a few hypothetical "what if" scenarios to illustrate some common engineering themes related to quality control and the inherent stresses between those who build, those who test, and those who sell. Every engineer is deeply familiar with these patterns, but I believe even the general reader will understand the dynamics better by reading these scenarios.

"...Stallman has a soft spot for India because he thinks people here are more inclined to free software — in fact, the first chapter of FSF outside the US was set up in this country — and because he sees similarities between India’s struggle against colonialism and the struggle against proprietary software. [...] He does not approve of what Linus Torvalds and Linux now stand for. [...] Stallman’s vision embraces larger concepts like human rights and ethical values, terms which make a lot of people uncomfortable..."

Rigo Camens of BinaryFreedom makes an excellent analogy of sacrificing ideals for reaching goals faster "Purely speaking, if we sacrifice our ideals then we will accomplish our goals faster. For instance, it would take much less effort for somebody who wants an anarchist or socialist revolution to go in and kill every important member of government. The problem is that they are sacrificing their

"Recently it emerged that Microsoft are removing the "kill switch" from Vista..."

"The Free Knowledge Institute (FKI) is a non-profit organisation that fosters the free exchange of knowledge in all areas of society. Inspired by the Free Software movement, the FKI promotes freedom of use, modification, copying and distribution of knowledge in four different but highly related fields: education, technology, culture and science."

Mako: "Dear free software supporter, Now is the time to join and give to Free Software Foundation. 2008 is going to be extraordinarily important year for free software. Eben Moglen likes to quote Gandhi's "first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" progression when describing the free software movement. As I pointed out when I joined the FSF board, we're beginning to see powerful interests fighting free software. It's going to increase in the next few years. Things will probably get a lot uglier for free software before they get better. We can win but things are far from settled. The FSF is the front-line organization in this fight and we need a robust and proactive foundation, and an active and involved membership, if we're going to win.

RMS: " Sharing copies isn't wrong. Prohibiting sharing is wrong."

"Openness" may be reaching hyperbolic proportions in Silicon Valley, but the idea is relatively good natured at heart. The practice is rooted in the notion that sharing various assets (i.e., underlying code, operating and communication standards) benefits both consumers and businesses. However, one could argue that the current fad of openness is little more than a Trojan horse