[Freegis-list] free GIS tutorials

[Jan-Oliver Wagner]

On Sun, Dec 21, 2003 at 04:39:33AM -0800, Mike Meuser wrote:
> Pretty simple I think.  Since this is a GIS related list, there may be 
> some who are looking to find a little beginning GIS "freedom" 
> without having to pay for it.  Don't you think?

as for software, I think that you do not gain any freedom when using
gratis proprietary software. Proprietary software (gratis or not) makes
a user depend on the authors/company that developed the software.
A long list of disadvantages derives from this concept and you will
find valid ones for virtually any individual situation.

I think you can distinguish coarsly into three areas: the societal
problem of making people and even nations dependent on software
products where they do not know what acutally is in there and which
drives large portions of their whole live.
The science problem of sharing information. How can you distribute
scientific findings being or based on proprietary software? The
findings are not 100% comprehesible any more and thus fail to qualify
as science.
Last but no least the economic problems. Proprietary software involves
many risks for a business, starting with the loss of control over IT
decisions (time of migration, product combination, product cancellation
etc. etc.) upto various backdoors.

Hope this gives you an idea why we distinguish gratis and free (as in
freedom).

Best

	Jan
-- 
Jan-Oliver Wagner               http://intevation.de/~jan/

Intevation GmbH	              	     http://intevation.de/
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