On Thu, 27 Dec 2001 21:33:06 +0900, Doug Lerner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> If software were free how could the employees of the software company be
> paid to begin with?
I am not arguing that all software should be free. I am simply stating that in
some cases I believe that the free software model is better. Let the market
decide. Most free software is developed outside of corporations, and much of it
is developed simply as a hobby by the coders (not as a revenue earner).
> I'm sorry, but by this logic you could say, "Instead of spending all that
> money on a down payment and mortgage, think of all the money I could save
> by just moving into the first house I see."
Ummm... no.
The free software model requires a different way of thinking in order to be
properly comprehended. It doesn't work as the capitalist model does, and you
will never understand it properly if you persist in viewing it in that way. I am
not saying that it is incompatible with the capitalist model -- it is simply
different. Indeed, companies like Mandrakesoft and Red Hat have proven that they
_are_ compatible.
> doug
>
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Thursday, December 27, 2001):
>
> >True, but there is also another side to the story. What about the end
> >users, who
> >will _save_ money by using free software. Corporations spend massive
> >amounts of
> >money on buggy, insecure software. If the software was free, all this money
> >could be saved, and the employees could be paid more (or more could be
> hired).
> >
> >I am not rabidly against charging for software, but in many cases free
> >software
> >can make a lot of sense. If a company chose to write a decent OS (BeOS
> >and OS/2
> >come to mind) with decent software, I would consider using them. Microsoft on
> >the other hand does not compete on quality, it competes on marketing and
> >lock-in.
> >
> >On Thu, 27 Dec 2001 10:57:25 +0900, Doug Lerner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >> On a day-to-day basis, if you want to have a working economy, where
> >> people can support themselves then, for sure, it makes more sense to
> >> compensate labor and effort which can be attributed. In other words, pay
> >> the programmers who create programs.
> >>
> >> The compensation to society for providing the environment is paid in taxes.
> >>
> >> doug
> >>
> >>
> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Thursday, December 27, 2001):
> >>
> >> >Doug Lerner wrote:
> >> >> There is a huge difference between an idea and an instance of
> putting the
> >> >> idea to use.
> >> >
> >> >And which is more valuable, or more worthy of being compensated (for)?
> >> >
> >> >Randy Kramer
--
Sridhar Dhanapalan
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You will be assimilated.
Resistance is-
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