Hello dear friends! :-)
This is a welcome mail to our new mailing list about FreeLy AMW.
This list will be in English because we ALREADY HAVE English speakers among
us. I also prefer that we will write in this list only in pure text (not
HTML mails) because it is easier to archive it.
In short: FreeLy is a GROUP of free and open source web projects, that a few
of them are already developed (actually: one of them), and more are planned.
I will send another mail about the description of each project, but here is
a very short list:
* FreeLy AMW: this project; AMW stands for Ajax Micro-Wiki, which suppose to
be an extra-light wiki for small groups, with collaborative studying
intentions, and more special features.
* FreeLy PPS: the engine that the site www.freeall.org runs on; PPS stands
for a personal pages system - just like a blog, but without a timeline, so
it fits better for publishing of artwork, articles, poems, etc.
* FreeLy DBM: A database management tool, good for small organizations, and
mean to have a flexible but easy administration.
* FreeLy VSF: VSF stands for very simple forum - a very simple text messages
board, light and easy to control/administrate.
And the last one will be "FreeLy Integrator" - a tool that suppose to
integrate all of these projects together, somehow.
--
A few words about licensing:
ALL of the original code and/or documents that we write in those projects is
released to PUBLIC DOMAIN; that means that everyone will be able to use it
for ANY purpose (including selling it or killing with it); but: there are
few "dependencies", that is, 3rd party software or code snippets that we
include in this project, that are licensed under the LGPL (Lesser General
Public License) which a bit less free, but still is very free.
All of the above mean that this project IS copyrighted, but the copyright
mean almost nothing, because any word that WE add, is completely free, and
that's what we actually wanted.
For more about this issue I would recommend you to read in Wikipedia, and/or
wait for a mail about this issue, with the complete license (I will attach
it).
--
Before I go, I will write another paragraph or two about a very important
question: WHY.
I mean: why are we doing it? (Or at least: why I am doing it...)
Well: we program for fun, and this is the most important aspect of it; but
it is not the only aspect.
We also program in order to SHARE - share our art with the world. In this
aspect, there is a special importance to the uniqueness of our work; and
indeed, we tried to plan a group of free applications which ARE unique, each
in its own way.
We don't try to pose competition - we try to add to the existing pool of
applications.
There are more reasons: as Amit said, I also have a craving for building a
community (not only programmers!) around a project, whatever kind of project
it'll be. The feeling of common purpose, that come from common minds and
common feelings is good.
And last reason is my "living" - I work with computers, and this is my way
to earn a living, and to support myself and my community/commune. FREE
projects (for the English speakers: free as in free speech, and not free as
in free beer) can be profitable (surprising?), though "profit" is not the
right word - I relate "profit" with "violence", so maybe we can stay with
"living"... anyway, FREE projects can help make a living: by producing a
good product, we can GIVE it away (not selling it), but charge for SERVICE.
As a "rule", we always prefer it (at least in FreeAll Web Guild) - to sell
services and not products (though: each one of you can sell this product, if
he like - but the project will still be available for free forever).
So: there are more reasons, but that's for a start.
This mail was not even about the AMW project... the next mail will be about
it, I promise.
Pay attention:
Replying to this mail will send it TO THE LIST, and NOT ONLY TO ME. Some
people think that this is a bad habit (I made it work like that), but I
think that in such very-specific lists, it is better. Moreover: all of the
mails that appear in this list are archived, and are completely public and
accessible (I will send you the URL sometime soon).
If you want to send private mails, just forward this message instead of
replying to it.
A different mail will also come about some technical issues and first
requests; in the meanwhile, if you want to unsubscribe from this list, or
change your preferences, just let me know.
Cheers,
Peleg.
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