--- Will Lowe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I liken the software industry to the art world. > Microsoft is like starving > artist companies that hire artist to pump out piece > after piece of mediocre > art for sale. Open source is like independent artist > with a love of the > doing and getting paid is secondary. You find in the > art world that every > artist is shocked after painting many pictures when > someone suddenly want to > pay them money for one. In other words they didn't > start painting to sell, > they started painting for the love and recognition. > This is true for most > open source applications I think.
HP, IBM, AT&T, and the US Govt. all support programmers producing Open Source software. None of those groups have an altruistic bone in their greedy bodies. They are doing it because the need the product. > > The revenue difference in open source versa > proprietary software models is > simply a matter of time. Proprietary software is a > return on investment > approach charged when the software is "rented" where > open source is a > support-funded approach. This approach model is > based on value-added > business model. > > Will Lowe Um. Value-added has a pretty specific meaning, which is close to what you mean, but not quite. You seem to be saying the Proprietary software is a product for sale, while the Open Source community needs to exist solely on a service model. RedHat is a mix under your model, then. Unless you see the software as a convenience rather than a product in this case. I think there was a day back in geekdom where idealogy was a factor. As Open Source gains ground, the idealogy moves to the background. As an analogy, given the date, I will use the United States. We were founded on ideals, and the ideals are still important, but given the fact we were founded by farmers, merchants, and pastors, and now run by lawyers, soldiers, and suits, I think we can assume the ideals are not a primary basis of the day to day running of the United States. Which is not to say they do not matter, they are the foundation on which we build. But the millions of people that run this place and live here think about milk and eggs a lot more often than liberty and freedom of speech. ===== Warmest Regards, Doug Riddle http://www.dougriddle.com http://fossile-project.sourceforge.net/ http://www.libranet.com -- "Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the Peoples' Liberty Teeth." - George Washington -- __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com
