Are we forgetting?

Hynek Hanke has followed up his excellent series
 on free software
 and his series Hacks and Hackers. If
 you tend to mix up terms like open source and free software and aren’t sure
 what they mean, I warmly recommend both series. Hynek Hanke is a genuinely
 gifted storyteller.

In the article Are We Forgetting? he reflects
 on the essence of free software and, above all, on passing the idea on. It’s an idea
 that’s gathering dust over time. Let me quote a short passage from the article.

I’d venture that today even most free software users have no idea what it’s really about or what the old hacker culture was, let alone everyone else. GNU/Linux users see a technically more advanced system or a technical philosophy they feel closer to. They no longer see a message about freedom, sharing information, openness and cooperation. Every user has the right to turn away from these goals for whatever reason. One group, for instance, deliberately began using the term “Open Source” to steer clear of these questions. But it’s a shame if people never even hear about them, so they never get a chance to accept or reject them.