Re: [ox-en] gates on open source
- From: Timm Murray <hardburn runbox.com>
- Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 23:54:05 -0500
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On Tuesday 23 April 2002 17:12, geert lovink wrote:
<>
"There's a faction against that, the so-called general GPL source license
free software foundation, that says that these other countries other than
the U.S. should devote R&D dollars in the so-called open approach, that
means you can never commercialize that software. And it is an interesting
choice to deny -- for a country to deny itself the benefits of these
high-paying jobs and the kind of taxes that let countries fund their
universities, and fund general research that then goes to renew that pool
of commercial R&D.
<>
I always love it when Microsoft confuses definitions. First, BillG defines
"open approach" as "can never be commercialized". I think Red Hat's
quarterly earnings show otherwise.
More important then that, I think, is this point: "for a country to deny
itself the benefits of these high-paying jobs . . . ". From this statement,
we have to assume that the only source of computer-related jobs is in
comercial software development--that is, software that will sit on a shelf at
Best Buy or wherever for consumers to come along and buy.
- From BillG's statement, we would be forced to ignore two major sections of
computer-related jobs:
1) Buissness software
2) Support services
While I have problems some things ESR belives, he does make a good point about
buissness software--that is, software that is never put in shrink wrap, but
rather, is either coded internaly (or contracted out) for use inside the same
corperation. IIRC, it was in "The Cathedral and the Bazzar" that Raymond
noted that when he gives that speach in public, he asks the audiance how many
there are employed as programmers. A bunch of hands go up. Then he asks how
many write code for applications that are going to be sold to the public.
Only two or three hands stay up. This is a clear indication that much of the
code being developed is generating exactly $0 in direct revenue for the
company that made it.
Support services is a very wide range in the tech field. It covers everything
from help desk to systems administration. While there are lots of companies
that don't turn out code (for internal use or otherwise), any company that
uses computers needs someone to make sure those computers work. For small
buisnesses, it might be a general employee who happens to be tech-savy, or
perhaps a high school nerd willing to work cheeply. For bigger companies, an
entire department takes care of the company's computer needs.
Yet, according to Mr. Gates, these people simply do not exist. The only
computer jobs are commerical programmers.
- --
About the use of language: It is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt
ax. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead.
--Edsger Dijkstra
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