From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,TO_NO_BRKTS_FROM_MSSP autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,92c39a3be0a7f17d X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-12-20 11:50:11 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!nntp-relay.ihug.net!ihug.co.nz!out.nntp.be!propagator-SanJose!in.nntp.be!newsranger.com!www.newsranger.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada From: Ted Dennison References: Subject: Re: RE: Future with Ada Message-ID: X-Abuse-Info: When contacting newsranger.com regarding abuse please X-Abuse-Info: forward the entire news article including headers or X-Abuse-Info: else we will not be able to process your request X-Complaints-To: abuse@newsranger.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 14:50:06 EST Organization: http://www.newsranger.com Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 19:50:06 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:18162 Date: 2001-12-20T19:50:06+00:00 List-Id: In article , tmoran@acm.org says... >or something to pay the rent. Of course one could make an argument that >programs, like paintings or music, are what the economists call "public >goods" which will only be supplied adequately if the government (through >DoD funding of universities perhaps?) pays for it... I wouldn't agree with that. I've spent my entire career developing software that was never directly distributed to more than one party. Developing software is a valuable activity, and *that* is what should (and will) be paid for. It is also the expensive part, so it is the most sensible part to charge for. Sure there are some companies trying to mass-market commercial software with "tolls". But most software developers are still either working directly for their users, or for some kind of "hardware" vendor (who needs that software so they can sell their hardware). I see no reason why we wouldn't be just as well off today, if not better, if all those toll-based software companies didn't exist, and instead developers were occasionally paid to add a new feature here or there to the standard word-processor or database that their company uses. It wouldn't alter my job (or pay, most likely) one iota, except that I wouldn't have to waste time installing license managers and typing in software keys. Another relevant term I have heard from the world of economics is a "Natural Monopoly". The basic idea is that cost of developing the infrastructure is so high compared to the cost of running it that it really doesn't pay for anyone to even try to compete by building their own. In such a mileu, you *will* have a monopoly. Its just a matter of how regulated you want to make it. --- T.E.D. homepage - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.