To me one of the worst parts of software is the "we don't promise that this software will do what we say it will do" section included in most software licenses. Couple that will an inability to "return" software (because it's too easy to cheat by copying) and I think the software industry is pretty messed up. If we could get rid of software licenses and prevent illegal copying at the same time, I think the software industry would really take off.
And you could still choose to give away your work if you wished -- as some authors and musicians are already doing. I guess it seems people still like physical books and higher-quality CDs even if they can get electronic versions for free. In some cases, having the work available for free helps good books/music become popular and profitable more quickly. And the artist/author can, in theory, keep more of the profits. I think this can work for software as well. --Dan On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 00:11:10 -0600, "Casey T. Deccio" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > Speaking economically, I think that one of the best things about open > source is the fact that it is free...free from obligatory payment. When > you mentioned this, two things come to mind. > > First of all, how great is it to purchase software from the store that > you haven't tried out before, only to discover that it doesn't meet your > expectations? You're pretty much stuck with what you bought--and a > dented band account. On the other hand, many open source developers > will say, "if you like this product, feel free to contribute"...some are > a little bit more "in your face" about it, but even so, you still > haven't (and aren't obliged to) pay for it. If you like the product, > you can take the step to contribute...on your own terms--which could be > based on your means and your satisfaction with the product. What a > great deal. > > Which brings me to my second point...at this point in our lives (those > of us who are still students) may not be in a situation to contribute > much (or any) to open source projects. I think that is entirely okay. > If the situation ever changes, and especially if we use open source > products for business purposes, it may be beneficial to contribute some > more. I _assume_ that this is some of the reason why businesses like > IBM contribute so much to linux development. Without having to pay for > all the commercial products, they can put all that money towards > developing the product they use. > > Casey > > On Wed, 2003-10-01 at 22:23, Shaun Ladewig wrote: > > How many of us have done anything to support the open source business > > model? Sure some of us write software and contribute that way, but how > > many of us have paid for tech support... or a little extra money sent to > > the developers of a piece of software... or to those who took the time to > > put together a distribution (or in the case of META-distributions took the > > time to put together the initial setup for creating your own). I know > > many of us openly support Linux and many of the other open source pieces > > of software, but when we keep advocating that everyone should really move > > over to that model, are we doing our share too? > > > > ____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
