Re: Open Source vs. Commercial

Captain Jake wrote:
>
> How is the production cost of FOSS lower? The resources used to
> produce FOSS are NOT available for other things. The time a
> programmer uses to write FOSS can't then also be used for other
> purposes.

First, those programmers are not yours to decide for, they will use their
time as *they* see fit. Second, if they are devoting some time to write free
software, presumably they do something else to provide for their livelihood
and are thus being productive in *that* area (or they are students, or
retired, or independently wealthy). So their time was not free for other
things *anyway* by *their* choice. The are not beasts of burden you can
allocate to various jobs "needed by society" they are human beings with free
will and the *right* to use that free will even if it is contrary to your
perception of a "proper" allocation of resources.

> Your conclusion doesn't follow from your argument. If FOSS
> programmers are consuming just as many resources as commercial
> programmers then their product costs society the same as commercial
> software.

If FOSS programmers are paying for those resources, "society" doesn't care,
nor have any right to decide, what those resources are used to produce.

--
Wayne Niddery - Logic Fundamentals, Inc. (www.logicfundamentals.com)
RADBooks: http://www.logicfundamentals.com/RADBooks.html
Bandwagons are like streetcars, there'll be another along in a few
minutes.


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Open Source vs. Commercial
    ... >>> How is the production cost of FOSS lower? ... >>> produce FOSS are NOT available for other things. ... So these resources are usually extra resources, ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: Open Source vs. Commercial
    ... >> How is the production cost of FOSS lower? ... The resources used to produce FOSS ... Community projects are not free either. ...
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  • Re: Open Source vs. Commercial
    ... >>> How is the production cost of FOSS lower? ... So these resources are usually extra resources, ... who spends them, contrary to piracy. ...
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