Free love? What have I been missing?
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/11/19/HNgplthreatens_1.html "McBride likened the notion of free software to a variety of movements including file sharing, the dot-com bubble, and even free love. He predicted that the proprietary and open-source worlds were on a "collision course," that would ultimately result in the end of the GPL license." I've lain in the bath a few times over the last few months (no smart remarks - usually I shower) and contemplated the idea of free software. I've come to the conclusion that it's inevitable and unavoidable, and the main reason is the proliferation of development platorms. When I first started in IT, there were about 10,000 systems on this planet capable of running a compiler. And most of those were under such tight audit control that running an unauthorised batch job was a dismissable offence. Machine time was charged out at hundreds or even thousands of pounds per CPU hour, and unauthorised use was theft. Now, there are literally hundreds of millions of systems capable of running a compiler. Payne's Fourth Law (mine) expounded in 1989 was - "If it's free on the network anywhere, it's free on the network everywhere." The same is becoming true of software. Probably lots of people in lots of places have written exactly what you need. It only takes one of them not to charge and that software is free. You will, for example, never be able to charge for search engine services ever again. The same is true of software. Apart from pretty highly specialised stuff, free software is inevitable. -- Phil Payne http://www.isham-research.com +44 7785 302 803
Re: Free love? What have I been missing?
> -Original Message- > From: Phil Payne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > I've lain in the bath a few times over the last few months > (no smart remarks - usually I > shower) and contemplated the idea of free software. > > I've come to the conclusion that it's inevitable and > unavoidable, and the main reason is the > proliferation of development platorms. Its inevitable as the abstraction gets further away from the machine. In the days when the OS was essentially a re-entrant program loader and CPU power was limited there was money to be had down at this level. Now that CPU power and the OS have dropped down the food chain and are essentially commodity items it isn't possible the same kind of profit on them. I used to work at the University in Manchester, in which there is a Whitworth building. Before Whitworth came along people made nuts and bolts by hand, a high cost operation, proprietary occupation. Once he introduced a machine to automate the cutting of threads in a repeatable, high quality, way the hand cutting industry was doomed. The open, standard way of producing displaced the proprietary. I see the software industry in the same way. Internet communications are not secure and therefore the Barclays Group does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Although the Barclays Group operates anti-virus programmes, it does not accept responsibility for any damage whatsoever that is caused by viruses being passed. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Barclays Group. Replies to this email may be monitored by the Barclays Group for operational or business reasons.
Re: Free love? What have I been missing?
Phil, My grandfather on my father's side started a second family at 61 and lived to be 90. My father stared his family in his 30's. Family tradition has is that my grandfather was a blacksmith who became a car mechanic. I'm not sure how accurate the family story is but it is a good story. One has to adapt in our profession as my grandfather did in his. Programmer's should get out of the technical end of thing by the time the are 30 if they want to follow the path the statistics say the more successful of us follow. Paul Hanrahan
Re: Free love? What have I been missing?
A more recent example is in the model railroading field. Not many years ago, command control systems for model trains were all proprietary, with several manufacturers offering their own systems. Then an open standard system was introduced, and now the proprietary systems have disappeared from the market in North America. There are now many more businesses supplying open standard command control systems and accessories, with lower prices than before, and a much bigger market as a result. > -Original Message- > From: Colin Walls [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 3:37 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Free love? What have I been missing? > > > -Original Message- > > From: Phil Payne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > I've lain in the bath a few times over the last few months > > (no smart remarks - usually I > > shower) and contemplated the idea of free software. > > > > I've come to the conclusion that it's inevitable and > > unavoidable, and the main reason is the > > proliferation of development platorms. > > Its inevitable as the abstraction gets further away from the machine. In > the > days when the OS was essentially a re-entrant program loader and CPU power > was limited there was money to be had down at this level. > > Now that CPU power and the OS have dropped down the food chain and are > essentially commodity items it isn't possible the same kind of profit on > them. > > I used to work at the University in Manchester, in which there is a > Whitworth building. Before Whitworth came along people made nuts and bolts > by hand, a high cost operation, proprietary occupation. Once he introduced > a > machine to automate the cutting of threads in a repeatable, high quality, > way the hand cutting industry was doomed. The open, standard way of > producing displaced the proprietary. I see the software industry in the > same > way. > > Internet communications are not secure and therefore the Barclays Group > does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. > Although the Barclays Group operates anti-virus programmes, it does not > accept responsibility for any damage whatsoever that is caused by > viruses being passed. Any views or opinions presented are solely those > of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Barclays > Group. Replies to this email may be monitored by the Barclays Group > for operational or business reasons. __ The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient or delegate is strictly prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. The integrity and security of this message cannot be guaranteed on the Internet. The Sender accepts no liability for the content of this e-mail, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The sender accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail. This disclaimer is the property of the TTC and must not be altered or circumvented in any manner.
