Free Software on Windows and Mac

“Inkscape is a good example. It’s available pre-built for
Windows, OS X and Linux, and shouts ‘Draw Freely’ as a slogan from
both its web page and the application’s About window.

“Hopefully, freedom is infectious. Over the last few years
software that’s free, as in speech and in beer, has embedded itself
within Windows and OS X and become an essential tool for many. Even
if people don’t understand the politics behind freely available
office suites, top-class web browsers or Samba networking stacks,
more users means more bug-testing, more publicity and more pressure
on the third-party vendors to support the applications we, as Linux
users, rely on.

“If Mozilla Firefox hadn’t become a household name, we’d still
be fighting websites to ensure compatibility, and OpenDocument
might not have become a ratified ISO standard. It also means that
users of IBM’s ancient OS/2 operating system can still run
cutting-edge open source applications such as Scribus.”

Complete
Story