AcrobatReader: A bug or intentionally?

[Mark Wallace]

It IS FREE SOFTWARE, IT'S JUST NOT GPL SOFTWARE.  There is a 
difference.  GPL software can be modified by the user or used as a 
basis to engineer something else.  Free software ( but still 
proprietary) comes with a license that doesn't authorize the end user 
to modify it.  The professor who went over this in the class that I 
was in was teaching a class of students who will wind up writing 
software for a living.  They they have to be clear what they are 
going to do with their end product, and if they can legally modify a program.

It could be that Adobe's concern is little more than that they charge 
Yahoo to put a search bar in Reader and Yahoo wants some assurance 
that the end user won't be able to take it out.



At 12:22 AM 26/04/2007, you wrote:
>Art Alexion wrote:
> > Adobe wants two things:  To give away as many readers as possible 
> to add value
> > to the PDF format and, hence make money selling PDF creation and editing
> > software.  To keep its code proprietary.
>
>Given that they make money off proprietary creation software (despite
>broad competition), I don't understand (purely from a financial point of
>view) why they keep the reader proprietary; making it free software
>would make increase distribution.
>
> > Heresy alert: I don't care what Richard M. Stallman says, there is a
> > difference between free software and open source software.
>
>I guess you mean "at no charge" when you say free.  It would help if you
>said gratis instead, to avoid confusion.  I mean freedom when I say free
>software and sometimes say libre to clarify.  Stallman agrees with your
>statement, but for a totally different reason
>(http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html).
>
> > People can give
> > away proprietary software (like Adobe does) and sell open source software
> > (Like Red Hat and Suse do)
>
>Certainly.  Almost all the software Red Hat sells is /both/ free and
>open source software.
>
>Matthew Flaschen
>
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Robert Mark Wallace
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