Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: The Cathedral and the Bizaar

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:3/22/1999; 7:47:08 AM
Topic:QNX
Msg #:4370 (In response to 4369)
Prev/Next:4369 / 4371

I don't think any reasonable person could disagree that if you own a bit of intellectual property and you want to give it away, you can do that. Some countries, notably the US, have laws that actually make it illegal, if you're trying to use the giveaway to gain or support a monopoly. But if it's just a marketing tactic, or generosity, there's nothing wrong with it.

Further, with the stock market supporting diseconomic businesses, at least for now, there are other ways to get money to pay programmers. It doesn't have to come from customers paying dollars for software licenses. But if the stock market should falter, this will probably change.

I know when we gave Frontier away, we faced a lot of resistance that went away when we started charging for it. Further, as a software creator, I always hurt a bit when someone would say they chose Frontier because it was free. I wanted them to choose my product because it's the best at what it does, not because it's cheaper.

And free source is not a new idea, and it's not an idea that's owned by Linux, or Stallman or Raymond. True, they have captured the high ground, but when it's beyond the level of Pet Idea of the Moment, then it will have to deliver. Until the noise settles down, there's not much point debating. All you get is zealotry and accusations.

Now, let's talk about Telescript and object oriented programming and Java. Anyone have any grand vision statements about that stuff? I didn't think so.

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