Free browser

[RonanC]

Can people please stop responding to this idiot; the more people argue with him, the more you validate his childish and illinformed ranting... If we ignore him then maybe he'll go away and buy an Apple/Creative/Cowon and go whinge and rant in their forums.

[L0wt3ch]

Ultimately, making stuff cheaper is what open source is about. It's never been about freedom of this, that, and the other, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Once again you show your ignorance of this issue, kb. Ever hear of the Free Software Foundation? You know, the people who brought us the GPL license? I have personally gone to see Richard Stallman speak, and I have no doubt that he would find your ideas about the GPL to be quite repugnant and uninformed.

From http://www.fsf.org/:

What is free software and why is it so important for society?

Free software is software that gives you the user the freedom to share, study and modify it. We call this free software because the user is free.

To use free software is to make a political and ethical choice asserting the right to learn, and share what we learn with others. Free software has become the foundation of a learning society where we share our knowledge in a way that others can build upon and enjoy.

Currently, many people use proprietary software that denies users these freedoms and benefits. If we make a copy and give it to a friend, if we try to figure out how the program works, if we put a copy on more than one of our own computers in our own home, we could be caught and fined or put in jail. ThatÔÇÖs whatÔÇÖs in the fine print of the license agreement you accept when using proprietary software.

The corporations behind proprietary software will often spy on your activities and restrict you from sharing with others. And because our computers control much of our personal information and daily activities, proprietary software represents an unacceptable danger to a free society.

The GNU Operating System and the Free Software Movement

What if there were a worldwide group of talented ethical programmers voluntarily committed to the idea of writing and sharing software with each other and with anyone else who agreed to share alike? What if anyone could be a part of and benefit from this community even without being a computer expert or knowing anything about programming? We wouldnÔÇÖt have to worry about getting caught copying a useful program for our friendsÔÇöbecause we wouldnÔÇÖt be doing anything wrong.

In fact, such a movement exists, and you can be a part of it. The free software movement was started in 1983 by computer scientist Richard M. Stallman, when he launched a project called GNU, which stands for ÔÇ£GNU is Not UNIXÔÇØ, to provide a replacement for the UNIX operating systemÔÇöa replacement that would respect the freedoms of those using it. Then in 1985, Stallman started the Free Software Foundation, a nonprofit with the mission of advocating and educating on behalf of computer users around the world.

There are now many variants or 'distributions' of this GNU operating system using the kernel Linux. We recommend those GNU/Linux distributions that are 100% free software; in other words, entirely freedom-respecting.

Today, free software is available for just about any task you can imagine. From complete operating systems like GNU, to over 5,000 individual programs and tools listed in the FSF/UNESCO free software directory. Millions of people around the world ÔÇö including entire governments ÔÇö are now using free software on their computers.
Our Core Work

The FSF maintains the Free Software Definition - to show clearly what must be true about a particular software program for it to be considered free software.

The FSF sponsors the GNU project the ongoing effort to provide a complete operating system licensed as free software. We also fund and promote important free software development and provide development systems for GNU software maintainers, including full email and shell services and mailing lists. We are committed to furthering the development of the GNU Operating System and enabling volunteers to easily contribute to that work, including sponsoring Savannah the source code repository and center for free software development.

The FSF holds copyright on a large proportion of the GNU operating system, and other free software. We hold these assets to defend free software from efforts to turn free software proprietary. Every year we collect thousands of copyright assignments from individual software developers and corporations working on free software. We register these copyrights with the US copyright office and enforce the license under which we distribute free software - typically the GNU General Public License. We do this to ensure that free software distributors respect their obligations to pass on the freedom to all users, to share, study and modify the code. We do this work through our Free Software Licensing and Compliance Lab.

The FSF publishes the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), the worlds most popular free software license, and the only license written with the express purpose of promoting and preserving software freedom. Other important licenses we publish include the GNU Lesser General Public License (GNU LGPL), the GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL) and the GNU Free Document License (GNU FDL). Read more about our free software licensing and related issues.

The FSF campaigns for free software adoption and against proprietary software. Threats to free software include Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), Software Patents and Treacherous Computing. Find out more about our campaigns, and ways to volunteer.

The FSF also provides important resources to the community including the FSF/UNESCO free software directory.

[kb]

Ultimately, making stuff cheaper is what open source is about. It's never been about freedom of this, that, and the other, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Once again you show your ignorance of this issue, kb. Ever hear of the Free Software Foundation? You know, the people who brought us the GPL license? I have personally gone to see Richard Stallman speak, and I have no doubt that he would find your ideas about the GPL to be quite repugnant and uninformed.

The FSF is full of high-sounding words and lofty ideals; but in the end commercial software vendors are accountable to their shareholders, not to their social conscience.

And I actually work in the software industry, where I deal with the implications of working with open-source software every day. Either we find some way of making money out of this stuff, or we go to the wall. It's as simple as that. You may not like my view, but it's a long way from being ill-informed. Software is my meat and drink.

Of course, if individuals, or even companies, want to sign up to this vision of free software for the betterment of mankind, well, good luck to them. But when I go to work, I go to work to pay my bills and put food on the table. To me, software is a product, which people pay for (I hope). I don't see any reason why I (or Archos) should be ethically obliged to sign up for your utopian vision.

[L0wt3ch]

I don't see any reason why I (or Archos) should be ethically obliged to sign up for your utopian vision.

Why, because Archos is using GPL'd software, of course. You'd think that would be obvious.

If you think it is ethical to sell out the movement to make a buck, then that is your point of view. However, it is not the view of most Linux developers. If Archos doesn't want their software to be free "to share, study and modify", they should not be using software released under the GPL license.

[RonanC]

No offense mate but noone in here really cares what you think about Archos' policies, their use of Linux and how they use the GPL license, or indeed anything else youve been ranting about. If you want to flame Archos about the way they do business then you are better off finding out Henri Crohas' personal address or phone number and have a discussion with him about it. If you have something to contribute to this forum, be it helping someone with a support issue or else providing something of use to the hacking projects then we would be glad to hear it. Otherwise please go take your rant elsewhere; its getting tiresome.

[L0wt3ch]

noone in here really cares what you think about Archos' policies

go take your rant elsewhere; its getting tiresome.

If you find my posts "tiresome", then quit clicking on them and reading them!

Besides, no-one was talking to you, so why don't you mind your own business?

[roylovelock]

topic moved, way off topic and too much back biting. please keep your thoughts to yourselves and they wont be moved.
roy

[Abagned]

Archos now also accept Paypal. Perhaps that's a way for you to buy plugins.

I try to buy the web browser plug-in with no success. I didn't found the PayPal feature on the Archos Content Portal.

https://store.archos.com/store/info_billing.php

I will appreciate any help with this.

[L0wt3ch]

Pretty sure Grond was wrong about that, Abagned. I don't know what to tell you.

[RonanC]

It might not work in the US yet, but if you go into the Archos store and change the country to either Ireland or the UK, there is a big banner across the top that says "Archos ready for PayPal".

[L0wt3ch]

Just so everyone knows, you can't switch the country to Ireland or the UK when you're in North America. Only US and Canada.

[Pikoe]

My archos device was still Dutch when I was in Iceland. It's not by IP...

I didn't try to change it though.