Libre Software

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"Libre software" means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.

In particular, four freedoms define Free Software:

The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.

Placing restrictions on the use of Free Software, such as time ("30 days trial period", "license expires January 1st, 2004") purpose ("permission granted for research and non-commercial use", "may not be used for benchmarking") or geographic area ("must not be used in country X") makes a program non-free.

The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.

Placing legal or practical restrictions on the comprehension or modification of a program, such as mandatory purchase of special licenses, signing of a Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA) or - for programming languages that have multiple forms or representation - making the preferred human way of comprehending and editing a program ("source code") inaccessible also makes it proprietary (non-free). Without the freedom to modify a program, people will remain at the mercy of a single vendor.

The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.

Software can be copied/distributed at virtually no cost. If you are not allowed to give a program to a person in need, that makes a program non-free. This can be done for a charge, if you so choose.

The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

Not everyone is an equally good programmer in all fields. Some people don't know how to program at all. This freedom allows those who do not have the time or skills to solve a problem to indirectly access the freedom to modify. This can be done for a charge.

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How to focus my time on creating free/libre software but still survive? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi all

I've been working as a software developer for the past few years and frequently decided to leave a company/project myself because I could not find the motivation to keep working for it.

First, I was questioning whether software development was really for me. But in my spare time, I still enjoyed writing small useful tools, configuring my linux desktop and self-hosting.

I recently realised that my demotivation is mostly due to the kind of software I was working on for the companies I worked for. Usually building APIs to facilitate sales/marketing for products I don't really care for. Or configuring some unnecessarily complicated ERP/CRM microsoft stack.

Instead, I would like to work on software that I use myself. Or at least on something that will useful for other people in the future, not just boost the sales of some company.

But I'm not sure where to look. It seems like jobs focusing on free/libre software are difficult to find (Or I don't know how to look) and the few I find seem to be looking for senior profiles much more experienced than me.

Anybody have some tips or places I can start looking? Honesly I would prefer to just contribute to some project for free, but I don't really have the option to do so at the moment.

Thanks!

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[–] Ptsf 5 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I've seen a lot of people do it and publish YouTube videos of their coding. Generally they attach a patreon/etc to the channel and let their viewers take a vote towards what they'd like to see worked on from a list of options. That'd allow you to make awesome software for people to actually use and receive near real-time community feedback, as long as you're up to the spotlight.

[–] Potatos_are_not_friends 3 points 5 months ago

I did this during the pandemic! Made like $20 (one person) after a year.

It wasn't about the money. But more about doing something consistent and building a tiny community. We're friends on discord now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I think it would be really nice to do this actually. But I'm not convinced I could support myself in this way. Kudos to those that can though.