Programs and services are different kinds of entities. A program is a work that you can execute; a service is an activity that you might interact with. For programs, we make a distinction between free and nonfree (proprietary). More precisely, this distinction applies to a program that you have a copy of: either you have the four freedoms for your copy or you don't.
Read more »Network Services Aren't Free or Nonfree; They Raise Other Issues
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A Wise User Judges Each Internet Usage Scenario Carefully
If the term “Cloud Computing” has any meaning, it can only be a certain attitude towards computing: an attitude of not thinking carefully about what a proposed scenario entails or what risks it implies.
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What's Needed for Freedom in the “cloud”?
Georg Greve from Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has often been asked to explain what he considers necessary prerequisites for an open, free, sustainable approach towards what is often called “The Cloud” or also “Software as a Service” (SaaS).
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Cloud Computing (SaaS) Licenses – Is AGPL the solution?
It is supported by many that the AGPL license for network services which run in a cloud brings back the fairness provision that the original GPL intended and returns the freedom that FLOSS promises to all users and developers. But does the APGL license really provide all that?
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Stallman calls for end to ‘war on sharing’
"Surveillance, censorship, restrictive data formats and software-as-a-service threatened the freedom of IT users, GNU founder and free software activist Richard Stallman claimed..."
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One Hand Shows “Open Source”, Another Hand Shows SaaS
A look at Microsoft's fascinating strategy of embracing competition through deceptive maneuvers and playful use of words
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RMS: Who does that server really serve?
Richard Stallman's new article. On the Internet, proprietary software isn't the only way to lose your freedom. Software as a Service is another way to let someone else have power over your computing.
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SaaS Partners Boost Open-Xchange Open Source Email
Open-Xchange claims 2009 was a banner year; more than 15 million people worldwide are running the open source email system, an 80 percent increase from 2008. The company's secret to success involves SaaS (software as a service) partners. Here's why. "
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Patents, Protests, Plebiscites, and Protecting your freedom
"When he attended a rally in Munich this month, Richard Stallman took time out of his busy schedule to talk with our News Editor, Britta Wülfing. The conversation covered everything from Software as a Service, to patents, protests, international politics, and protecting your freedom...
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Quote of the Month: RMS Says "Software As a Service" Is Non-free
"'Software as a service' means that you think of a particular server as doing your computing for you. If that's what the server does, you must not use it! If you do your computing on someone else's server, you hand over control of your computing to whoever controls the server.
Read more »The forgotten lesson of the JournalSpace disaster
At look at what else we can learn from the JornalSpace disaster.
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Web apps: the next battleground for FOSS?
Concerned about the increasing popularity of Web applications, Marco Barulli of the Clipperz project has written one of the first detailed suggestions about how free and open source software (FOSS) should respond to the trend. Although neither Barulli nor Clipperz is well-known, his ideas are being listened to by such figures as Richard M.
Read more »Free software vs. software-as-a-service: Is the GPL too weak for the Web?
"Preserving software freedom in the era of Web applications -- You’ve read the GPL’s preamble, you can name the Four Freedoms, and you do your best to keep proprietary bits off our computers. But what’s the future of free software in the era of Flickr, Google Apps, and Facebook? ..."
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AGPLv3 Keeps Open Source Vibrant in Age of SaaS
Software as a service (SaaS) entered the IT landscape in 2000 and has revolutionized the deployment models of many software companies and even entire industries, such as Internet search. It has also becoming an increasingly popular form of consuming applications within enterprises of all shapes, sizes and geographies.
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Will GNU AGPLv3 boost Open Source SaaS support?
Can Software as a Service get some Open Source lovin' now that the Free Software Foundation gets its licensing act together?
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