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Resident urges Livermore to adopt free (open‑source) software
Summary
At public comment, Joe Lee urged the council to adopt more free/open‑source software, reciting the "four essential software freedoms" and quoting Nina Paley to argue copying is not theft.
Joe Lee addressed the council during the open forum to encourage the City of Livermore to adopt more free (open‑source) software in its computing systems. He outlined what he called the "four essential software freedoms": the freedom to use the program for any purpose; to study and modify source code; to share exact copies; and to distribute modified versions.
Lee argued that if the city purchased free software it could legally share copies with other cities and even sell them at reduced cost because free-software licenses do not prohibit redistribution. He closed his three-minute comment by quoting cartoonist Nina Paley: "Copying is not theft."
The clerk had announced public-comment rules before Lee's remarks. The council did not respond to the substance of Lee's request in the meeting transcript.
