I'd bet IBM invested heavily in linux because they think it has a lot of
potential.
I also bet they have it free for now because they're getting lots of bugs
worked out and beta testers for free.
They have a saying in vegas.
Vegas wasnt built on winner's..
IBM didnt become who they were by giving things away, but they definitely
understand the concept of a loss leader.
When or where will they begin charging is anybody's guess, but you can bet
that there will be a time when they recover their investment.
We all do our hobbies for free because they are our hobbies.
BUT when we have no income, we look for ways to turn those hobbies into
income.
Virgil Bierschwale
Armstrong and Skipper Real Estate
(830) 329-6774 Cell
(830) 864-4726 Home
(830) 864-4799 Fax
http://www.bierschwalesolutions.com
http://www.bierschwale.com
http://www.virgilslist.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Whil Hentzen (Pro*)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <profox@leafe.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 5:34 PM
Subject: Re: Revenue model for open source databases (was Re:Anyone
usedSQLExpress?)
Virgil Bierschwale wrote:
Glory and a buck 50 will buy you a cup of coffee at the local cafe....
<grin>
Seriously though, thats been my arugment for years regarding freeware...
And I guess that's why IBM has invested so heavily in Linux, huh? :) Not
to mention just about every other computer company on the planet. There
used to be a day when software was free, long time ago. I'd even bet you
remember those days...
Right now the developers do it as a hobby because they enjoy it and they
have a full time gig paying the bills..
Look at all of the software you can download from Ed's forum, or the UT,
or the (old) CompuServe FoxForum. Lots of reasons to do free software.
Support, training, custom apps built on top of a free engine...
As well as a rather decent demonstration of one's ability. Take two
programmers vying for a job. One of them wrote a freeware tool that's in
wide use; the other has had his head in a cubicle for the last five years.
The hiring boss says, "Oh, wow, you wrote THAT? We use that around here
all the time!"
The other guy doesn't even get a call back.
LOTS of reasons to write free software, just as there are lots of reasons
to, oh, let me think.... work a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving night, be a
Boy Scout den leader, read to your daughter's first grade class, help sell
books at the local library's annual fundraiser, oh, maybe even answer
questions on an online forum, without getting paid, ya know.
Whil
[excessive quoting removed by server]
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