[NTLUG:Discuss] RMS's Speach

[Steve Baker]

kbrannen at gte.net wrote:

> For the record, I have no problem with commercial software.  I think it has a
> place, a small one, but it's not inheritantly evil.

I agree - programmers need to eat, so there has to be commercial software.

HOWEVER, I don't think that software that forms part of the infrastructure
of our computer systems should be commercial.

Hence, I'd be happy to pay for a decent wordprocessor - but I want my
NFS server to be OpenSourced.  I'll pay for a game - but not an OpenGL
implementation.

We need for the API's and other key interfaces to be open - and commercialising
them produces the kinds of monopolistic effects you see with Microsoft.

If M$ stopped making Windoze - I'd be quite interested in buying a copy
of Word (for Linux of course).

> My biggest gripe with commercial software is that many companies price
> it only for businesses, putting it out of the range of individuals.

That's a hard problem.  You can make more money selling software for
$1000 a copy to businesses than for $20 a copy to individuals because
so much of your costs are in customer support.  Fewer customers == less
support.

And games *do* sell for $30 or so - it's only things like C++ compilers
that come in at the $300 to $500 mark...since the vast majority of
purchasers are commercial users.

> There is a similarity with
> books.  I always buy paperback books (for pleasure reading) instead of
> hardbacks; same sort of reasoning (not to mention that what I'd pay for 1
> hardback would buy 3-4 paperbacks).

Yes - but realise that cheap paperback novels cost $3 to $5 - but technical
books - also in paperback and with a similar number of pages cost about $50.

-- 
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