On Fri, 2002-04-12 at 19:41, A2L1 wrote:
> I just have a couple of comments to add to this whole
> free thing---I at first was attracted to linux for that
> very reason---FREE --- but there is the legit argument
> for feeding the developers, operatina a for profit
> business, etc, so I think the way Libranet is handling this
> whole issue is the best solution. You can dl an ISO from
> their site but it is of the last release---if you want the
> latest version it will cost you.
I am attracted to the OpenSource community movement for the *sole
reason* that software, once donated to the community, cannot be removed
from it. This donation of software is without expectation of any form of
monetary recoupment. Perhaps I'm being an idealist, but it seems to me
that paying any one small group of people involved with a community
project is anywhere from silly to outright wrong.
Programmers get payment from respect of their peers and the name
recognition in the industry. The referrals from the communities these
programmers contribute to help them on a personal level via networking
contacts and other fringe benefits.
These community projects mostly cannot support developers solely
dedicated to the task of their development. A company may assume a
"development assistance" role where they package, sell, or support the
community package (Zope) or their own fork of the same codebase
(Mozilla). In this way, a business may make money to pay these
programmers to work full time on a project. The torch can and *should*
be passed on, however, if the business model is inadequate to the task
of finding profit in the endeavor.
On the sideline, however, there are always programmers that work on
project part time throughout the world. Thousands of programmers who
find OpenSource development a great hobby, and believe in the central
unifying goal of a single unified software community.
For this reason, I say that all OpenSource developers *deserve* our
admiration and respect. They *deserve* the reputations they build in the
community. They *deserve* job opportunities from companies who would
employ them and permit them to develop OpenSource on the side or full
time. They *deserve* the right to try and make a go of a commercial
venture to sell service and support based on such a community project.
Anything beyond this is patronage of but a few of the developers that
have toiled to bring this software to you.
> This in my opinion is more than fair, after all you
> still can download a full version of linux and at the same
> time the company can generate income for its trouble in
> developing a release with all the newest stuff.
"Linux" is a kernel. "SuSe" is a distribution. I can download many OTHER
distributions of Linux. If the company cannot generate revenue on
OpenSource service and support, perhaps they need to change their
business model or take a closer look at the numbers and how they are
doing business. If the company goes away, the software WILL live on via
the community.
> If Mandrake were to do that then the dl edition would be
> like 8.0 and the for pay version would be 8.2---if you want
> the latest and greatest then at least provide a little
> financial support(buy it) but there would still be a dl
> version(only a little dated) for those strapped either by
> principal or funds.
My primary assertion here is that OPENSOURCE SOFTWARE SHOULD BE FREE.
Not all software should be free, merely the software that is contributed
back to the community. If vendors want to take their distributions
purely commercial by hiding the source to their install media, then I
will quite happily move along to something THAT WILL REMAIN FREE (ie,
Debian - no central company to pay $$ to, BTW).
> I dont mean to start a war or anything like that---just
> offering an opinion
I'm not trying to start a war either. Everyone is entitled to their own
views, always. I'm not trying to force my views on anyone else, but to
me they seem self evident. My views seem to be left-wing-radical on this
issue, anyway. That's probably why I use Debian.
- Ian C. Blenke <icblenke@nks.net> <ian@blenke.com>
http://ian.blenke.com
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