The Geography of Free

Kris Bredemeyer, Lisa Jordan, John Fradel
Florida State University, Department of Geography

Abstract

Preamble

This is under GNU public license. This has to stay in open document format, see http://creativecommons.org/license/ for more information.


Introduction

Free Distribution of Information

Free software foundation 1985 (http://www.fsf.org/) started concept of free software. Free software refers to the liberty to use software in any desired manner, rather than it not having a cost. Thus free software may be freely copied and disseminated. However, individuals may charge a fee to provide you with free software. (http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html)
Four freedoms
1. Freedom to run the program for any purpose.
2. Freedom to study how the program works and adapt it.
3. Freedom to disseminate copies of the program.
4. Freedom to improve the program and release these improvements to the public.

Freeware versus open source (http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/categories.html)

Open Source Software
Open source software allows the user to use the program in any way they want to as long as it continues to be available as open source software. As open source software allows for anyone to modify the source code, the source code has to be publicly available. The source code may be embedded in the program files itself, or it may be located on a public web server.

There are a variety of different types of open source licenses. According to (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/), the most common open source license is the GNU Public License (GPL). GNU stands for GNU is not Unix. This nomenclature is used because the original free software programs were attempts to recreate a free Unix operating system. The second most common open source license is the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). The difference between these licenses is that the GPL does not allow the program to be used in proprietary programs, while the LGPL allows for the program to be used in proprietary programs.

Examples of Open Source Software

Firefox is a free cross-platform web browser. Firefox is derived from the open sourced Netscape code. However, the software has been totally rewritten and is licensed under the GPL, LGPL, and a legacy Mozilla Public License. The Mozilla Public License was created when Netscape created the Mozilla project, but it was found to not be compatible with the GPL or LGPL, which is why Mozilla is now using the GPL and LGPL.


Open Source GIS in particular

ESRI is the most popular GIS in industry, and there is an incentive for GIS training to be done using ESRI products. In reaction to ESRI's high cost of GIS software there have been some open source GIS products developed.

Map Window
U-Dig
QGIS
GRASS

Dollar Breakfast Buffet and Book Bags

Cost to enter the buffet, but once inside no concept of price. There is an incentive to take as much as possible to obtain the highest value. Thus a fixed entrance price could result in a small value if only a little is eaten, while extra free value is obtained if a large amount is eaten, and additional food is taken home.

Barriers to “The Free”

Attempts to privatize public space decrease accessibility to freedom of expression of ideas. According to McLeod's Freedom of Expression (p. 227), the mallization of society has resulted in private places replacing public places for many everyday activities. These private places do not have to afford the first amendment rights to peacefully assemble, demonstrate, and express free speech. McLeod (p. 229) also describes the use of free speech zones in public areas. Free speech zones allow for law enforcement to suspend rights of assembly and speech in most areas, leaving only a small area for free speech. In addition these free speech zones are often under intense police scrutiny.

Information can be tracked by governments as well as private companies without public disclosure (McLeod p. 245-246). Trying to freely access these databases may result in conviction of a felony of violating the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This copyright act requires Internet service provides to immediately remove any copyrighted material or face litigation. A similar, but less draconian copyright act was passed in Europe in 2001. The European copyright act does not require Internet service providers to immediately remove copyrighted material or face litigation.

Fear of the Future

Online dissemination of information results in lower barriers to accessing information. These new possibilities, such as totally online journals are not respected by many in academia due to a combination of fear of change in the future, and a lack of familiarity with online journals.

Openness is Counterintuitive, e.g. Free is inferior, “there's a catch,” “no such thing as a
free lunch,” nobody else uses it, it won't work with existing standards (i.e. File
extensions, incompatibility), using open source/open access is a way of legitimizing
theft because we expect to pay for products


Conclusions