Stabilisers for freedom: Wine 1.0
Companies willing to migrate to Free Software sometimes face the problem that certain applications they use for their daily work were written in a way that makes them dependent on a specific operating system.
These programs undermine the the entrepreneurial freedom of any business to freely chose their hardware and operating system. Not only does this pose a threat to fair competition, but it is also harmful to the individual company as replacing those applications with Free Software cannot usually be done over night.
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) acknowledges the importance of the work being done by the Wine developers, whose efforts help many users to migrate to Free Software.
Matthias Kirschner on the topic: "It's the same support that training wheels provide when learning to ride a bicycle, they take away the fear and help the children to learn to ride by themselves - Just as Wine 'balances' the burden proprietary software puts upon its user."
"Of course, it should be in the users interest to 'ride their bicycles independently', i.e. not having to rely on training wheels. However, the training wheels keep children from falling and give freedom to both the children and their parents. Likewise Wine helped to give freedom and security to the users. It is for this we are thankful and we recognise their work."
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.
About Open Standards
Lock-in of data is one of the most common techniques to artificially raise the cost of migration to Free Software. Ensuring the best possible interoperability through Open Standards is essential in enabling users to escape vendor lock-in. FSFE's work on Open Standards has the goal of making sure that people do not have to lose all their data when migrating to Free Software.