Free Open-Source Beer

[Michael]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ide...2/18/free_beer

Originally Posted by Boston

Free Beer is an honest-to-god beer, but one based on a concept that has its roots in the free software movement. "Free software" began in the early 1980s when software developers first started asserting intellectual property rights over their works. The problem wasn't so much that developers were making money off software, but rather that, by asserting these rights, they were no longer allowing the free and informal sharing of code. The free software movement's objection, which was largely cast in moral terms, was essentially that while charging money for software was fine -- everyone has to eat -- it is not right to prevent others from using, studying, distributing, or improving on it.

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