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

Re: Predation and the destruction of markets

Author:William Crim
Posted:8/24/2000; 10:26:27 PM
Topic:Next survey: Are you an open source developer?
Msg #:20161 (In response to 20157)
Prev/Next:20160 / 20162

Microsoft destroyed the market for Netscape's browser via predatory practices.

Products aren't markets. People have needs that need to be fufilled, this causes markets to form. The market is for browsers, not for Netscape or IE.

Those companies' numbers are dwindling. There were dozens in the 80's; there are only a few now. At the current rate of attrition they soon will all be gone.

Could it be that there are less general purpose OS/chips out there? All the compiler action now is in the embedded space, because the server/workstation market is saturated(and not by gcc).

What GCC does is not competition. It is predation. It is anti-competitive.

Listen, software is written to do things for the users. Software does not exist solely to give you a market to sell your products. I BUY the Opera browser, even though I can get IE and Netscape for free. Thats because Netscape and IE don't do what I need.

I don't care if you can feed your family by doing programming, thats not my concern. My concern is getting the software I need to do what I want to do. If I have to pay for it, I am more than willing to. However price IS a concern for me, so if there is a free(as in price) alternative, I will be more likely to take it. If there is a free(as in freedom) alternative, I will be even MORE likely to take it, since I have been bitten fairly often by proprietary software. I will, however, gladly reject the free and no-cost programs if they don't suit my needs. (As I did by buying Opera)

Libraries didn't contribute to the downfall of publishing by making books availible free of charge, and the GPL won't kill software or programming as a profession. The sky is not falling.

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