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:

For example, I'm sure everyone here has seen the rather misleading
graphs that purport to show that if you had invested $1000.00 in the
"stock market" in 1929 - right before the crash - you'd still be a
multimillionaire today. What they don't tell you is that in real dollar
terms you'd still only have broken even in the late 1980s - i.e. no long
term net gain for 60 years - and that's *before taxes*:
<http://www.internet2.edu/~shalunov/stock-market/>

Actually, you'd have broken even in 1957, and then surpassed that for
most of the 1960s, reaching a high point in 1965, after which there was
a long steady drop until 1982, when things finally began to pick up
again.

I can see that certain free offerings can bring strategic advantage in
the face of a monopoly - linux comes to mind here - but I have never
understood why professional programmers would champion free software
*in general* any more than shoemakers would champion free shoes or
tailors champion free three piece suits. It's just plain self
destructive.

Might not prostitutes want love deep down, despite the fact that in a
world of monogamy their fortunes would wane? The free software issue is
a moral one, after all, and oftentimes that which is moral is not that
which is materially rewarding.

Free software is not and never has been about the programmers; it's
always been about the users. It has, in fact, envisioned a future in
which all users are empowered programmers. Now, as a side-effect it may
have some good side-effects for programmers (e.g. the GNU stack, which
is generally very good, capable & full-featured software)--but that has
never been the point. Free software says to programmers 'do that which
is good,' not 'do that which lines yours pockets.'

Although, from the point of view of an impecunious hobbyist, the dollar
value of free software is far greater than I could ever afford to pay.
Much like, interestingly, the dollar value of Western civilisation is
far greater than I could ever afford to pay...

--
Robert Uhl <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
I'm seriously considering getting one of those bright-orange prison
overalls and stencilling PASSENGER on the back. Along with the paper
slippers, I ought to be able to walk right through security. Not.
--Brian Kantor
.

Relevant Pages

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