dkeats.com

Last week I was in Incredible Connection (a local computer chain store for those outside SA) to purchase an analogue video capture device so I could build a simple system for archiving really old video material using Free Software. As I was standing at the till, I happened to glance at the person in front of me. He was buying a piece of proprietary software for R1600, and he was visibly upset by the price, but clearly he believed he needed it. It was a stripped down version of Microsoft Office, I forget the name because I don't generally pay any attention to Microsoft products.

In South Africa, R1600 is a lot of money, a monthly salary for many people, more for some. I suggested that he might put it back and download Open Office for free, and he would have better functionality at no cost.

"No, I, I don't pirate software," he said, looking shocked that I would even suggest it.

"Its free software, not pirate software," I said.

"There is no such thing,"  says he. "People don't make products for free."

Shame, poor guy, he paid R1600 for a product rendered defective by deliberate design, when he could have enjoyed greater freedom and saved R1600. Does his ignorance make it OK for him to be a digital slave? Implicitly, it is so.

Thankfully, I live mostly in digital freedom. A side benefit of this is that I almost never have to pay for software, and the software that I use is by-and-large of superior quality. I know this because I used to be a slave.