On 12 Dec 2001 at 13:59, Paul Munro wrote:
PS: I am not saying that programmers should not get paid ;-) I am saying that the monies they make from software sales ("bits" as Eric Raymond calls them) is very small compared to money they make from in-house programming and other related tasks. Software sales could generally be stopped tomorrow and hardly any programmers would lose from it--that's not where they earn from (unless you program for M$). Just thought I'd clarify that!
I don't know that you could stop software sales without noticing... Working for a software house, the majority of our money comes from Licensing and support services (yes we too only issue a license to use the software!), but the sale of our software does produce a nice cash injection that can be used for new equipment purchases, investments etc. As a programmer for my employer, I don't have any rights over the software I produce anyway. I do however write software for myself out of company time. I would not be annoyed if somebody took my ideas and wrote from scratch overcoming the same issues I did similar software to mine. I would be annoyed if they took my code and profited out of it. Surely it's up to the individual as to how they release a product (be that software or music!). If I want people to have the code and benefit from my experience I can release it under the GPL. If I don't want them to have it, I release a binary distributable under a proprietary license. Then it's my choice if I want to charge for my binary software or not. For me, it's more a matter of freedom of choice rather than freedom of information, I don't believe we have the god given right to all information, but we should have the right of choice!. It seems that this right of choice is what is going to be removed from us the the introduction of the DMCA and SSSCA acts should those become law. Don't kid yourselves either, if they become law in the USA, there will be a big impact on Open-Source software regardless of whether they become law in the UK or not. The next point is more business orientated.. what about the cost of investment that international business has in Linux as a whole. Webservers, email servers, firewalls... who is going to foot the bill to replace these if it becomes illegal to use them ?? And finally... So what if it's illegal to run one of these operating systems.. like that's going to stop Mr terrorist and Mr Drug dealer using it anyway?! They can kill thousands of people and sell illegal drugs. Obviously they are going to be so scared of running illegal operating system on their PC incase they get caught..... right.......... -Andy- ============================================================ Andrew Johnson, Technical Consultant Drive Computer Services Tel +44 (0)1924 280388 Extn 223 Fax +44 (0)1924 280117 Mobile +44 (0)7970 284594 Vmail/Fax +44 (0)7092 362849 Email : andrew.johnson@drivecomputing.co.uk { The contents of this communication (plus any attachments which may be included along with it) are solely intended for the individual(s) and/or group(s) listed as a recipient above. None of the contents should be relayed in any form to any third party without the prior consent of the author. All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employer. }