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- From: zoo@cygnus.com (david d 'zoo' zuhn)
- Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
- Subject: Re: harmful effects of gnu software
- Message-ID: <31031@toad.com>
- Date: 24 Jan 93 00:30:07 GMT
- References: <H.eg.sISqCqbnpuk@jonh.wimsey.bc.ca>
- <1993Jan22.222424.24191@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
- <1993Jan23.081203.25955@samba.oit.unc.edu>
- <1993Jan23.205326.24479@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
- Sender: news@toad.com
- Distribution: gnu
- Organization: Cygnus Support -- +1 415 903 1434
- Lines: 53
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- In-reply-to: lukka@klaava.Helsinki.FI's message of Sat, 23 Jan 1993 20:53:26 GMT
-
-
- >If the consumer (you for example) demands it, it will happen. Thats what the
- >market is all about. ;)
-
- Market? With FREE software? Please, explain what the 'market' has to do with
- free software? It's creators are not affected by the market, they make what
- they see fit.
-
- Sure. Most of the work done at Cygnus has been done because someone paid
- us to do it. That sounds like a market drive to me. This work is all
- free, because that also has been a market demand. Our customers want
- support for various features, and in some cases, they specifically want it
- available in releases that everyone can get.
-
- Almost every new CPU to come out in the last few years has a port of GCC to
- that chip. In many cases, the port was funded by either the designers or
- the manufacturers of the chip. It's seen as a competitive requirement
- these day. "GCC doesn't support the FOO? What good is it?" This logic
- doesn't completely hold water, especially in the smaller micro-controller
- worlds (gcc on the 8051? ouch!). But in the higher-end CPU's (>=32bit),
- there definitely is a market drive for gcc.
-
- It's true that the applications market for free software is low (almost
- non-existent). The reasons for this have been hashed out many times
- before, so I won't go into them now. But I think it's likely that we'll
- start to see changes here. Users are asking for freedom, and companies
- that provide the source code are providing the highest level of freedom
- that their customers demand.
-
- Free software is a relative newcomer to the marketplace. Scarcity
- economics has been the rule of the day, because up until recently creating
- a product has meant a per-unit actual cost (raw materials, labor time,
- etc).
-
- Information (and software is in this realm) has different economics. How
- much does this program cost? $10 for the tape that it is on? $50 for the
- tape and the time needed to package it? $10000 for the time needed to
- develop the software that it contains?
-
- The world is just now recognizing that the old ways of dealing with
- physical commodities don't translate wonderfully for informational
- commodities.
-
- Or do you mean that consumers start demanding companies to write free software?
- Please convince USL not to sue UCB and I will believe you.
-
- If you think that this specific single example will prove or disprove the
- proposition that customers are demanding software freedom, I encourage you
- to open your horizons.
-
- david d 'zoo' zuhn |
- cygnus support | And if you're never lost, how can you be found?
- zoo@cygnus.com |
-