Re: Economics and the GPL

Deven T. Corzine wrote:

>
>Perhaps the GPL does a better job of pursuing Stallman's goals, but it's 
>hard to claim that it gives the programmer more freedom than licenses like 
>the BSD/X11 licenses...
>

Simple-- it gives the author the ability to contribute to the public 
trust without contributing their code to proprietary commercial 
endeavors, which are far more likely to be used in a manner the author 
dislikes (such as tactical incompatibilities to disadvantage 
competitors-- remember the Microsoft/Kerberos affair?).

That is the single freedom the GPL gives an author: the freedom from 
proprietary perversion for simple profit motive.

>>I sincerely hope that soon nobody will consider operating systems, word 
>>processors, web browsers, and spreadsheet programs worth paying for.
>>
>
>If you don't consider them worth paying for, then you must consider such 
>programs "finished" and not worth developing any further.  After all, if 
>they're going to be developed further, that's going to be paid for in some 
>fashion, even if it's just in terms of the free time of volunteers.  And if 
>there's a real cost to be paid, why should the end users who benefit avoid 
>sharing that cost and leave the burden to someone else?
>

Why do I program?  Because it's *fun*.  I don't expect profit.  I don't 
expect money.  The problem with *all* arguments against the GPL is that 
they insist programmers can't profit from their code.  In the monetary 
sense, this may or may not be true; in the absolute sense, it's complete 
rubbish.  I profit from my code because I *enjoy* writing it in the 
first place.  I profit from my code because I like people writing me and 
saying, "This is cool, thanks!"  I profit from my code because I get 
exactly what I want out of my computer, and not what some moron in 
marketting *thinks* I want out of my computer.  As I'm already making a 
good living, why should someone else pay for me doing something I enjoy?

And I have made money from my programming: I've a damned good job that 
pays better than any job I've had before, simply based on my code.  And 
I may even be able to code at this job, though it currently isn't 
required; it's all "systems integration," my favorite.

Anyway, I really am going back to lurking now.  It's been a slow Friday 
at work, and I've been feeling a little fiesty.  Thanks, all, for the 
good discussions.

                    - Tony