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Re: [News] Encounters with Richard Stallman and KnowledgeTree's Chalef

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____/ GPS on Friday 10 July 2009 08:59 : \____

> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> Interview with Daniel Chalef of KnowledgeTree
>> 
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | I realise that the community tends not to compete… but I still have to
>> | ask: what if it does? How would you react if somebody starts providing
>> | the features you charge for, and releases them under the GPL?
>> | 
>> | We would be inclined to further differentiate the commercial product by
>> | adding features and/or support options. We might learn from how the
>> | community implements the functionality (which might take a different
>> | approach to the original) and customers and community get a better
>> | product.
>> `----
>> 
>> 
>
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/interview_daniel_chalef_knowledgetree
> 
> A concern I have had is that in some cases there is not a need or desire to
> get things right the first time, if a business is writing GNU software.  The
> nature of business is currently to do that which increases the profit, or
> increases the value and profit to share holders.  Thus, they would have more
> benefit from patchwork quilt software, and not from good and solid
> engineering, built from prototypes and experience.
> 
> In this way, the users suffer from low quality software, and tech support
> costs.  However, you might suggest that you could take the mostly working
> software, clean it up, get it right, and sell that.  If you do that, the
> competitor that was milking support costs with their patchwork quilt will
> eventually take your code, and build more upon it.  Thus, your fork that was
> well made loses the ability to profit more, and the company that had more
> money from the patchwork quilt continues on.

It's certainly one way to assess this, but always look in both directions. It's
like the situation in the patent system. For each exclusive ownership you have
(monopoly, patent) there are many other out there waiting to attack you*.
Lawyers and similar meta-industries win. Conversely, for each 100,000 LOCs you
have out there (or just packaged software like Apache that you can support for
revenue) there is someone out there looking to use yours. By maximising
sharing you incentivise patching that's widespread and benefits everyone.
Sharing of code has no cost and the same applies to knowledge (like
Wikipedia). Algorithm and poetry are art, not goods. Oxygen is more "property"
than knowledge because it's at least physical.

> If you are writing commercially-supported GNU software you could make money
> by providing custom code, but then the customers you sell support to, can
> turn around, use it, and become your competitor, and every other competitor
> can use it.  The companies that do honest work, and do a good job might not
> be able to get the funding they need to eat, and live, so the progression
> favors companies that do a poor, rushed, and cheap job.

It works for Red Hat, Intel, H-P and others who fund the code /they/ need to
sell /their/ products with Linux.

> It's a good example of how every democracy fails, as well as communism.  I
> think there is a reason why the introduction to GNU was dubbed _The GNU
> Manifesto_.  I would rather have something more like a constitutional
> republic.

How would you describe "letter to hobbyists"? Anti-social? Elitist?

___
* "I would much rather spend my time and money and energy finding ways to make
the Internet safer and better than bickering over patents."

                                Dean Drako, Barracuda's CEO



- -- 
                ~~ Best of wishes


If USENET is anarchy, IRC is a paranoid schizophrenic after 6 days on speed.
- -- Chris "Saundo" Saunderson
http://Schestowitz.com  |  GNU is Not UNIX  |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
      http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
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