Ken:
> This is also hard to determine. We all suspect that there is some group
> out there somewhere that has just the mods we need and if only they
> could be persuaded to contribute their changes, we'd all be better
> off. Certainly there have been many worthwhile contributions by large
> entities but I can also tell that there are lots of less than elegant
> hacks, and part of the task of a free software project manager is to
> weed out the crappy contributions.
I'm thinking of several things at once here, and I think that money
has an important part to play.
The mp3 thing I think represents a watershed.
I reckon people just won't / can't accept they can't download music
for free off the internet. All the talk in the world about piracy,
thieving, educational programs etc. won't make a jot of difference.
This will spill over into software, videos etc.
I'm not condoning it, but saying that laws, preaching, berating,
sueing won't stop this. You can't wipe out a widespread practise
through laws.
In the same way that railways were eventually nationalised because they
made losses (stock speculation was a feature of that era too!), but were
still an extremely useful public utility, governments will play an role in
the future of the distribution of 'bits of information', what is thought
of today as 'property'.
I dare say there'll be several goes at getting it right.
Jamie
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