Re: Realtime/embedded project to help with employment.

["Warren W. Gay VE3WWG" <ve3wwg@cogeco.ca>]

Hyman Rosen wrote:

> Marin David Condic wrote:
>  > I suppose it is all right for me to assemble various digital recordings
> 
> The difference is that the bands you mention didn't give anyone
> permission to do this, while the software developers did. But
> you know that, obviously, so what is your purpose in drawing this
> analogy? Are you trying to say that the developers didn't give
> this permission? That they were duped? All of them?
...
> Writing a piece of software and releasing it under the GPL
> is infinitely easier than writing a piece of software and
> trying to make money from it. The fact that some compnaies
> are managing to earn money selling GNU/Linux distributions
> may give some people the illusion that there is money to
> be made in individual software packages, and for some tiny
> percentage that would even be true. But not fro most.

As an individual, who is very greatful for GPL/free software,
means that I don't have to choose between being a Pirate and/or
paying out big bucks to develop software for myself at home.

I still remember in the 80's what it was like to have a nice
microcomputer in front of you, but only able to run canned
apps. The choice was to buy/pirate a copy of Microsoft's C
compiler and/or limit yourself to BASIC (at least that was
my experience at the time).

(1) Being grateful for gcc, Linux and all of those other wonderful
master pieces (like the X Window system, that is so easy
to take for granted!), I don't mind contributing something
back (my efforts are relatively small by comparison!)

(2) If I do a good job at developing something generally useful,
_and_ make it free/GPL'd, then I won't have to worry about it
being there in the future! Because others will find it useful,
it will be included in future distributions, with no effort
from myself. In fact, someone may make amazing contributions
to them without me. In this way, I win again on a number of
levels.

Much GPL'd software is created because it needed to exist,
but didn't.

Compare this to:

I create something amazing useful (at least to some people), but
I license it under terms like M$ EULA. Well, this will just drive
many people using it for personal use into piracy, or will just
eliminate it being used generally.

What do I get out of this?  Maybe a few license fees.

I know this, because I have been through this cycle (sure,
maybe I don't know how to market products, but that is
another issue ;-)

Conclusion:

I am not against people charging for software (that is their
choice). But I think that for some cases at least,
you can profit more, by giving it away (GPL is IMO, fair
enough).

-- 
Warren W. Gay VE3WWG
http://home.cogeco.ca/~ve3wwg