Re: the free software paradigm [was Re: Amazon used lisp & C exclusively?

Ron Garret <rNOSPAMon@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

In article <uzmesnlsv.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
Kent M Pitman <pitman@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I've lost track of the context here

My understanding of the situation is that you believe that people ought
not give software away for free because doing so undermines the
interests of society by making it impossible for people (including you)
to earn a living writing software, which in turn discourages bright
people (like you presumably) from writing software.

Is that right?

I would not state it that way, even though I agree with a great deal
of the text there. There are situations where I don't think free
software is harmful, and situations where I do. I have been using the
phrase anti-free-software-qua-panacea. Free software is not an
automatic benefit, and often has negative consequences such as those
you mention, but my belief is not that it is either universally good
nor universally bad.

But, moreover, the poorly chosen subject line notwithstanding, if you
go to the start of the thread, you'll see I didn't intend to raise
this issue at all. The context you describe was imposed by zealots
who jumped in and made this a religious war.

I asked simply what we are to recommend to programmers in our
community about what they should do in order to actually make a
business doing software, short of just being a hobbyist or taking a
day-job with a giant corporation. I simply don't understand what the
paradigm is for a small entrant who wants to write software on his own
and make money. It seems to me that with the "democratization of the
net" and "ubiquitous desktop computation" and yet also the fact that
not everyone is an expert, such possibilities should exist, yet they
don't seem to me to really be there. Not to the degree that I'd
recommend anyone enter the field. This isn't an attempt to debate
the situation, it's an attempt to ask for a working theory given what
the present state of affairs is.

But I reserve the right to say that what's suggested doesn't sound
promising, and so far I've heard nothing promising--mostly because
people have been trying to convince me my premises are wrong. To what
end I don't know, since I still have my original question.
.

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