Please help Rippit make his case better. I am often asked "Why not just use Grip?" when I tell people I'm writing yet-another CD ripper and encoder. I give my answer in:
However, I don't think I make my case as compellingly or clearly as I could. That's why I'm asking for your constructive criticism. If you don't want to reply here, email me at rippit@oggfrog.com
The consensus at Kuro5hin was that I should devote my time to writing software, not essays, but I feel every Free Software project needs a manifesto. Why?
I was so impressed with my first encounter with Free Software not because I had the source code to Emacs, but because I read the GNU Manifesto that came with it. That was what told me why having the source code to Emacs was so important.
I fully expect most of my users will be high school or college students who run Windows or Mac OS X. Without explaining what Free Software is, or why its important that Ogg Frog be a Free Software application, they're likely to think it's just one more of the many free-as-in-beer audio applications they presently use. They won't understand that by writing Ogg Frog, I aim to make not just software, but music, Free as in Free Speech.
My essay will be placed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license when it is ready.
Thanks for your help!