At 06:56 PM 7/8/2003 -0700, you wrote: >In my research (and I have done a good deal of it >looking for free software to accomplish IT tasks, and >robotic programming tasks), I have found a really not >surprising theme. The more peole that need a piece of >software, the more likly it is to be cheap or free.
I am going to keep hammering at my single question. :) What if there is a market for the software, but it isn't yet available? Then who pays? If it's a single client then that client bears the total cost. If it is the entire marketplace then the cost per-client is much smaller. This is a benefit of mass-marketed commercial software. How can we get that kind of benefit? It is entirely possible that with open source software you can't get this kind of benefit in this scenario (the software does not exist or is not of reasonable quality). That is a big problem though, and I'd like to see ideas about how to get around it. I do need to read up on the ransom model. I haven't had time yet. Any other ideas? --- Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Puryear Information Technology, LLC <http://www.puryear-it.com> Providing expertise in the management, integration, and security of Windows and UNIX systems, networks, and applications.
