Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotbob
If you re-read the thread you will see that the discussion was basically comparing books to software and that since "most" software is free then authors don't need to be paid for their work, or that it doesn't have value. So, my main points were...
1. "Most" software is NOT free.
2. Even if the software is free, the people that created it were still getting paid.
It think the above equates to ebooks and other stuff. For example, alot of articles written in newspapers are "free" but the authors are still getting paid, perhaps via adds, etc. I've not seen alot of ads in eBooks so I think the authors need to get paid by people paying for the eBooks that they enjoy.
BOb
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I disagree with point #1, and to a lesser extent with #2. Most software that I am using is indeed free, and I can set up any small to medium sized business with "free" software that will do most of what they need to be done.
OS? BSD or Linux, free. Web server, Apache. Database- take your pick, from Postgres to MySql to Ingres (now free). Office apps? OpenOffice. DVD authoring, etc. etc. Also free. Most of the large-dollar purchases in software needed to run a business are "free"- NON-PURCHASES.
What am I missing? The exorbitant fees charged for MS Office or MS Win? The flaky performance of the above-mentioned software?
#2- Even if the software is free the programmers are still getting paid? Who cares? The BSD programmers didn't get paid, and they developed 90% of "commercial UNIX." The IBM programmers are getting paid because IBM recognizes the advantages of a non-proprietary model of software development. Mr. Stallman may or may not be a Communist, but his model makes alot of sense whatever end of the economic stratum that you inhabit.
IMHO, the BSD license is great because you can "close" your softwares if you like; I am not a real big fan of GNU license. But the fact remains that much "free" softeware is written for free. How can you be so sure that much great writing ("literature") would not be written for free also?
"Free" doesn't mean "writing for free." Just means that today's business model isn't working so well. When it comes to software, if I buy a crappy piece of software that sucks and causes me problems and I have to write something that works to replace it, well, I would probably give away mine for free just to hose the people who sold me crap. And if I had to write a certain type of software, like a GL, I would probably give mine away for free just to see how others might improve it.
Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel and was paid, but every poor soul that views it doesn't have to send him $7.50.......