Hi Leo,
>>>>> "Leo" == Leo Fernandez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>>> in return what are u gonna do ? :)
Leo> But the whole point of the Free Software Movement is
Leo> precisely this: that return on investments come in the form
Leo> of building knowledge systems that is owned by the
Leo> community. And through such pooling in of knowledge resources
Leo> everyone gains in the long run.
Leo> So if companies are really keen on supporting Free Software
Leo> solutions, they need to shift from thinking of "proprietary"
Leo> gains.
While I agree with what you're saying, I also feel that not too many
companies will be willing to invest from purely community- and
resource-building motives. Finally it all boils down to, ``What do I
get in tangible returns from this investment.'' From one point of
view it's only fair, too, since companies are responsible to their
investors, who would not want to invest in a firm which doles out
money to free software projects and LUG's without a strategy to reap
benefits from it.
Free software results in organisations losing competitive advantage
from software, which is scary to most of them. It takes real vision
to understand that in the long run free software will benefit both
organisations and individuals. Organisations will benefit because
they will be able to get quality software at no cost; if they lose
their competitive advantage they will just have to build it up in
another arena. Individuals will benefit from the increased pool of
knowledge which can be tapped for free.
Only when the primary goal of manufacturers shifts from ``how do I
make the most money out of this product'' to ``how do I offer the
highest quality products and services to my clients'' will we see the
free software movement really get accepted into what is called the
mainstream. Until then, we need to offer a quid pro quo to our own
investors (the companies under discussion), in cash, kind or service.
No, I don't want to offer it, and nor do I believe that it is the
right thing to do. However I will push for handing out sops for the
moment until this society is powerful enough to call the shots to the
industry rather than the other way around. I hope that's soon!
I wonder if there are specific free-software related projects which
specific companies are interested in? E.g., do you want to cluster
your Linux systems? If so, why not donate money to your local LUG for
a clustering project? You will reap the benefits immediately, and the
project as a whole will go to enhancing the knowledge base. As
another example, if some company's interested in fast e-mail, they
could sponsor a (say) Qmail tutorial at the next meet.
Leo> Are not our LUG meets a sort of training programme? Everyone
Leo> who attends gains some new knowledge at one meeting or the
Leo> other? ;-)
Leo> Leo
Regards,
-- Raju
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The mailing list archives are available at
http://lists.linux-india.org/cgi-bin/linux-delhi
