Tag Archives: GPL Manifesto

Free Software Policy Is Getting Shape

Today Richard Matthew Stallman visited Rajendra Kumar Pandey at around 8:57 PM. RMS has shown his draft to RKP on his laptop. RKP has also shown his draft to RMS on his laptop.

RMS said that RKP’s draft is too radical and might bring in a lot of opposition so he cannot support it despite the fact that it is rather more close to his own ideals. RKP’s draft is as follows: –

Free Software Policy

Anyone can register a domain with free software support and pay any freelance programmer not less than 15 US$ per hour for not more than hours necessary to build his business on GPL code.

Free Software Policy that must get made a General Public Law across all countries alike defines that any software that is made must be free for: –

  1. freedom to use it

  2. freedom to study it

  3. freedom to change it

  4. freedom to share it

Thus source code of any software must always remain free to get freely used, studied, changed and shared without any legal hindrance within the whole humanity.

Whichever software doesn’t comply with all these conditions cannot be made, run or sold.

It should be made illegal across all the countries to use or distribute any such software, which doesn’t comply with all the given conditions.

Only by freeing the source code and changing the license to GPL, any software can survive this law.

HAPPY HACKING !

RKP said he has no problem with the draft brought by RMS, which is as follows: –

Draft Digital Freedom Goals

Digital technology in a free society must respect users’ freedom.

India will move towards _free_ software — software that respects the four essential freedoms: to run the program, study and change its source code, redistribute unchanged, and redistribute with changes. India will advance towards digital freedom on six fronts.

For digital sovereignty, India will cease installation of nonfree software in government agencies, then over time replace currently used nonfree software with free software.  E-governance must use only free software.

For education in freedom, India will have schools teach, distribute and promote only free software and free textbooks, and explain the civic reasons.

For citizens’ digital security, India will make digital products safe by requiring firmware to be free, and limit digital systems from amassing and keeping huge collections of personal data.

For a free web, India will make the software contained in web pages respect users’ freedom too.

For freedom in digital commerce, India will implement digital cash that allows users to be anonymous when buying from a web site, but doesn’t let the web site conceal its total income.

For freedom of digital expression, India will guarantee that no web material can be blocked or removed by government without due process of law.

RKP suggested to call it Free Software Policy and RMS agreed. This Free Software Policy shall become the basis of global campaign of hackers for freedom. Upon legislation in a country this Free Software Policy can be called as General Public Law.

During his this trip to New Delhi, the legendary RMS held political meetings with L K Advani, Pratibha Advani, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi, other than continuously discussing the prospects of technology in politics with Rajendra Kumar Pandey on a day-to-day basis.

RMS left at around 9:38 PM as he was feeling tired so desired to go to bed earlier than usual. Before to meet RKP for the fifth and last time during his this visit to India, RMS had more than one hour long meeting with Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi with legendary RMS

Rahul has most respectfully listened to the legendary RMS on all the technological aspects of governance, RMS was preparing to draft in the due document.

Before going to bed on Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 10:39 PM RMS finally emailed his draft to RKP, which got duly replied by RKP on Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 12:01 AM saying; “We can certainly use it”. Thus the Free Software Policy got its initial shape and the next round of meetings of its makers is also scheduled.