On Thu, Aug 29, 2002 at 09:55:33PM -0400, Frank Roberts - SOTL wrote:
> I know this is not Linus so I shouldn't posting this to the technical list so
> my apologies in advance.
>
> My awaking with the attitude of the IEEE started me thinking about how many
> other professional public service organizations create standards the same way
> Linux does at zero cost to themself; posts them to the net so their cost of
> distribution is virtually zero, and then charge $30 to $200 dollars for
> access to a report which is probable not even 30 pages long.
>
> People like AMA, ADA, ASME, CPA Society immediately come to mind just to name
> a few.
>
I don't think it's quite fair to say that they cost nothing to produce.
I imagine entities like IEEE have drones that sit in an office somewhere
and answer phones, copy things, type things up, etc. They've probably
got rent, utilities, travel budgets, etc.
They may or may not charge a fortune for their reports, depending on
your viewpoint. But unlike us, they have real offices, real employees,
and real expenses. Could they have created the same standards gratis, as
the Open Source world does? Maybe. But somewhere somebody's got to foot
the bill. The internet wouldn't be what it is today without the
original generosity of universities. All organized Open Source
activities at one time or another require cash to operate, even Debian.
And those standards folks live in a different (corporate) world from us,
where if it's free or cheap, it's bad.
Look at it this way: the Tampa Bay PC Users Group charges dues. We
don't. They also have an office in Clearwater, and we don't. Red Hat
pays Alan Cox's salary, and Transmeta pays Linus's. Yes, it's amazing
what we've done with a lot of volunteer geeks. The standards guys just
chose a different path. And if you were IBM or Nabisco, you wouldn't
blink at spending the money for copies of standards.
Paul
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