Everyone has heard, and may have used, the expression that Linux is free.  Actually, that’s wrong.  There is a price to Linux.  In fact there are two prices for Linux, which depend on the individual and his/her relationship to it.

1. The cost in time of the people that develop, test, debug and package it for individual consumption.
2. The cost in time of the people that use it, in learning a new operating system, in setting it up each time a new release comes out, in learning to use the many and varied programs that run on it, and in explaining to others WHY they chose to use Linux.

Linux may not have a monitary cost, but that doesn’t mean that it has NO cost.  How much does a programmer make in the commercial market?  Is her/his time any less valuable simply because he/she chooses to work on a program for which she/he will receive no remuneration?  Of course not.  That person could easily be working on some other commercial program as a contractor, or acting as a consultant to a company.  But because that programmer has chosen to work on “free” software he/she is labled with the most obnoxious lables, considered some sort of anti-social person with no concept of true value, and that his/her work is therefore without value.

Without value.  How that rankles me.  If it had no value then why are major companies using it?  Many of them using it exclusively.  And making lots of money doing so.  If it is without value then why are manufacturers using it in embeded products, like desk-top units, etc.  This is not some sort of socialism.  These companies see true value Linux, and make use of it, and make money from it.  Enough money that many of these outfits find ways to contribute, themselves.  IBM, for example, pays programmers to work on Linux and associated programs because the company makes money from them.  It is in there best interest to see Linux improve, because then their own products improve.  I could go on and on about such companies, but if you honestly take a look at what’s going on instead of buying into someones ADVERTISING, then you will see it for yourself.  Linux has value, and that value has proven itself in the marketplace.

What is true of the core operating system, of Linux, is also true of the vast number of “non-commercial” programs that ride on top of it.  Programs like OpenOffice.org, GIMP, GNOME, KDE, VLC media player, and Firefox . . . and the list goes on.  These all have value.  The value is in how you use them and how you respect them.  I do not claim to be a computer guru, but I can sit down at a computer and hammer out a spreadsheet or a simple database, or even write a story or a blog because I took the time to learn the tools with which to do so.  Nor is it the first time that I’ve done so.  I’ve worked with computers for about 18 1/2 years as a CAD operator – a Computer Assisted Draftsman, operating on commercial programs and operating system.  I had to learn them all by my self.  I didn’t go to school for it.  Then had to relearn when the company I worked for tossed me onto a UNIX system.  Then relearn again when they went back to their original OS manufacturer.  In fact, my whole working life has been one round of learning new things in order to do my job and do it, not just to the satisfaction of my employers, but to the satisfaction of myself.  so when I hear people say that they don’t want to use Linux because it’s not what they’re used to, I have to wonder why they are being paid.  Are they so afraid of a little work, the true cost of ANYTHING, that they refuse to crawl out of their holes and look toward the horizon?  If so, I feel sorry for them, for they will never feel that they are a success.  At anything.

No, Linux is not free.  It is without cost, if you choose to accept it that way, though there are distributions that charge for it (mainly, they are charging for the packaging and a certain limited amount of support), or that charge for service contracts.  But that’s not “buying” Linux.  It’s buying the service contracts or the pretty packaging.  It’s up to the individual to free himself or herself of the advertising claims of commercial operating system manufacturers that only see money as having value, and ignore the fact that the OS they are producing costs even more in time and money due to viruses and the like.

I offer you the hand of freedom.  Freedom to choose for yourself where your money will be spent.  Freedom to learn new things and find new ways of producing value for which you CAN charge.  Freedom to decide what you will have on your computer and how you can use it.  A computer is a tool, a versital tool that can be reconfigured to meet the needs of whatever job is out there.  But it’s up to the individual to decide how to use it, not up to some faceless manufacturer that doesn’t understand the needs of the individual.  So, when I hand you a disk and say, “here, it’s free”, I’m only referring to the monitary cost.  It will still cost you some time and effort on your part.  Pay the price.  It’s worth it.