Sunday, October 31, 2010

Free Software Foundation Loses Its Mind

I've always been a big fan of the Free Software Foundation, and these days its risky to disagree with anyone who criticizes Apple -- you'll almost certainly be labeled a "fanboy". But the FSF's recent attack on Apple's App Store is a stretch. There are so many problems with it that its hard to know where to start.

First, let's just say it. The the FSF, Gnu Project, and the Copyleft has been a godsend for software users. Without them we would be a decade or more behind where we are today in terms of innovation, and software would almost certainly cost a great deal more than it does now. But even friends overreach sometimes, and in this case I believe the FSF has done exactly that.

The guts of the argument being made by FSF is that Apple's Terms of Service violate the Copyleft by limiting what user's can do with any apps that they get from the App Store. The Copyleft clearly states that any developer who uses Copylefted software can't impose new restrictions on how user's can use and distribute that software.

In this case, Apple is an intermediary, and the App Store is providing an intermediate service. The specific restriction that Apple adds (at least the one specifically addressed in FSF's blog post about their complaint) is that users are only allowed to replicate each instance of an app on up to five compatible devices.

Of course, this is no restriction at all, since if that user has a 6 or more iOS devices, they can simply download another copy of any app the is free "as in beer" in addition to free "as in speech". FSF's complaint comes down to a nitpick about the way the App Store and iTunes manage installations on iOS devices, and not a threat to anyone's freedom or creativity.

In cases where developers are charging for Apps that have been written using Copylefted code, Apple's restrictions would force the user to purchase another copy of the software in order to use it on a 6th device. This might be a complain worth complaining about, but that beef would have to be with the developer, not Apple.

In my experience, the GNU project has done a fantastic job empowering developers and tech savvy users to do things that would otherwise be impossible -- the financial barriers would simply be too high. After decades of evolving, the community and movement are becoming more accessible to non-technical users.

Apple's "closed" operation of the App Store and tight controls over what can and cannot be distributed to iOS devices wrankle because they seem like the antithesis of what the "open" movement represents. But I disagree. If nothing else, Apple has created a system that shows everyone how things CAN work in the mobile world, and, as their success clearly demonstrates, this is an experience that a great many people want and are willing to pay for. Perhaps after decades or less evolving, the open movement will create a similar ecosystem that is as accessible to non-technical users and thus creates similar opportunities for developers.

Until then, however, FSF needs to back off. The end result of this current crusade will be nothing less than to exclude Copylefted software from the biggest mobile device ecosystem on the planet and deprive users the opportunity to use some really good software on at least the first five of their iPhones.