Re: who owns C

From: Keith Thompson (kst-u_at_mib.org)
Date: 06/17/04 

Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 23:39:02 GMT

Mark McIntyre <markmcintyre@spamcop.net> writes:
> On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 23:38:38 -0400, in comp.lang.c , Allin Cottrell
> <cottrell@wfu.edu> wrote:
>
> >I believe you're confused regarding the quotation levels. It was Dan
> >who initially claimed the C standard was available at cost, and Keith
> >Thompson who thought the $18 for the PDF must embody a profit margin.
>
> My apologies to Dan, and contumely is heaped instead on Keith !

Where it is equally undeserved.

I don't know, or particularly care, whether the $18 includes a profit
margin or not. My guess is that it does.

The original confusion, I think, was that Dan mistakenly used the
phrase "at cost" to mean "at a cost" (i.e., not free (that's
free-as-in-beer)), whereas my understanding is that the phrase implies
that the price covers only the marginal cost of production.

I paid my $18 several years ago, and at this point I don't
particularly care what they did with the money. (And if you want to
talk about whether the standard *should* be free, look through the
comp.std.c archives, where it's already been discussed to death.) 

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center             <*>  <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something.  This is something.  Therefore, we must do this.