Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Whose voice would do?
Author: Ken MacLeod Posted: 8/28/2000; 7:15:40 PM Topic: scriptingNews outline for 8/28/2000 Msg #: 20425 (In response to 20412) Prev/Next: 20424 / 20429 [...] I want the same thing they want, an economic system that works. But as a user I also want a system that gives the users what they want. They need help from someone like me, I get Napster, and I also get what the artists are saying.I believe this has come in this thread, but I don't recall who wrote it.
I too believe that whatever solutions begin working for music (and authors and artists in general) will work for software too.
What's happening is that we're converging from opposite sides: Open source developers have traditionally not made money directly from releasing their source, but would like to. Authors and artists have traditionally made money directly from their work, but have found the new technology to be replicating it for nothing (something the open source people pretty much expected from the beginning).
I don't think Brett would have expected this, but I have no problem whatsoever with someone making money directly from the creativity and effort they put into extending my software (AFAIK, very few others would either). I would love to make money directly from my source too, even if I release it as open source. My only requirement for using my source as the base, is that your source be open too (mostly because that's the only way it'll work in the current economic environment with my open source).
If I recall correctly, we've discussed two models in the past few weeks that may work for this: the escrow model and Stephen King's model. The escrow model is where you set a minimum price, and then as soon as that price is met, the software is delivered. Stephen King's model is probably well known: deliver some portions, and hold the remainder until a sizable payment has been made. (I don't recall if King intends for the books to become free after this period. For this discussion, that's my intent.) (There's also the contractor model, which is already common.)
In both of these cases, and I think King did this as well, we're not talking about "a word processor" or "a PhotoShop clone" scale of project (months long), we're talking about chapter size, or major feature, scale. (If you're familiar with Extreme Programming, this is the User Story and Iteration-level of work.)
There's no problem with commercial developers or making money from open source. The problem is the artificial restrictions that are required of closed or proprietary software. It's just like copy protection, it makes using the work more difficult.
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