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

Raffael Cavallaro <raffaelcavallaro@pas-d'espam-s'il-vous-plait-mac.com> writes:

On 2006-07-25 10:38:35 -0400, Greg Menke <gregm-xyzpdq3@xxxxxxxxxxxx> said:

If I
play around with some project in my free time and fix a couple bugs and
commit them back to the maintainers, have I really created a problem
supporting my children?

Not by failing to work for pay, no - after all you probably watch TV and
read books, take walks, etc. none of which are earning you
income. However, by contributing to a piece of work whose net effect is
to value programmers' work product at $0.00 dollars you have definitely
helped to devalue your own labor - assuming you earn income as a
programmer.

No- as has been pointed out by others, I have "de-monetized" it which is
different. If I submit a patch to some open source product, I haven't
"lost" any money anyhow since I would never have been paid for the
patch. It seems to me you are arguing against volunteer labor.


It is not the time spent without recompense that hurts programmers, it
is their collective contribution to a body of work which is provided to
the software market free of cost. This pushes programmer wages down -
it really can't help but do so, just as shoemakers working in their
spare time to provide free shoes can't help but push down the price of
shoes. These hypothetical shoemakers wouldn't be losing out because of
the limited spare time they weren't working for pay by making free
shoes, but because all the shoes they *did* sell for pay would be worth
less.

By making the free competition better, I am also forcing the for-profit
operations to enhance their products or wilt. It means the for-profit
shoemakers must make better shoes. If the argument is it cuts into my
own sales, thats a question <I> have to answer and is not your concern.
If you assume some sort of greater wisdom than I about my own business
and economy, then with all due respect you can take your attitude and
stuff it- I am the one who gets to establish whats valueable to me or
not and what tradeoffs I want to make.


In a world filled with abundant free software many kinds of software are
worth less because there is simply a smaller market for them -
after all, many potential customers will just use the free software. Not
all users of free offerings are lost premium sales, but *some* of these
free software users would have paid *something* for that type of
software had there not been a free version. That lost revenue cannot but
be reflected in lower programmer wages and salaries, and as Kent has
pointed out, in lost market opportunities for single-programmer or small
software firms.

Well then, the for profit programmers should make better products.
Generally software is bought on features not price so if I'm a for
profit programmer then I should fancy up my software and make its
features compelling instead of complaining about how people are being so
unfair when they release something similar for free.

Gregm
.

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