[scribus] Is Linux/Scribus viable? (was New Linux User...)

[John Beardmore]

John Brown wrote:
> Jan Schrewe wrote:
>> John Brown schrieb am Sonntag, 10. August 2008:
>>> Gregory Pittman wrote:
>>>> Scribus's role in this is to just keep pushing forward, so that it can
>>> Nothing in life is free. So-called free-to-air television is paid for by
>>> advertisers. The money to pay for "free" software has to come from
>>> somewhere. Why is it evil if it comes from the people who use the software?
>> It isn't - at least the way I see it. The evil part is the proprietary part of 
>> the software. The part that is not open, where you have to deal with anoying 
>> bugs and annoying designs and have no way to just fix something or you need 
>> to adhere to absurd licenses. 
> 
> I understand the difference between "free beer" and "free speech".

I expect we all do.


>  I just wish
> that more people would be honest and admit that they would be rather less
> interested in "free speech" if they had to pay commercial prices for it.

But there isn't an inherent material / financial cost to speaking. There 
is to making beer.


> Those
> dishonest people betray themselves by their constant references to  the evil M$.

I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't mind paying MS for those products 
that I wanted if I wanted them. What I do mind is attempts to distort 
and monopolise markets through the manipulation of other vendors, covert 
APIs, and closed 'standards'.


>> After using linux for 12 years now I find it always absurd, when I can't check 
>> out code from svn to get something I want or need, if I can't take a quick 
>> peek in the sources to see how something works or why something isn't 
>> working.
>>
> 
> Open Source indeed has a number of advantages, but they are overstated.

Not IME.


> Possession of the source code is irrelevant if you do not have the ability to
> "take a quick peek in the sources to see how something works or why 
> something isn't  working". 99.999% of the population would be able to do
> absolutely nothing with the source code or Windows MS Word, or whatever.

I don't think that fraction is right, but the point is that few that do 
can deliver a big benefit to the many.


> On the other hand, anyone can type 'svn update', although building the typical
> open source program on Windows is harder than it is on Linux.

?  So ?


Cheers, J/.
-- 
John Beardmore, MSc EDM (Open), B.A. Chem (Oxon), CMIOSH, AIEMA, MEI
Managing Director, T4 Sustainability Limited. http://www.T4sLtd.co.uk/
Carbon Trust Consultant: Energy Audit, Carbon Footprint, Design Advice
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