Kam Salisbury on Sat, 29 Mar 2003 19:35:19 -0500


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Re: [PLUG] OSS desktop (windows) anti-virus?


I disagree Paul. If Mozilla had a charge associated with it to recoup
development costs I would be more convinced with your statement. Basically,
just because someone (or people) spent some time doing something does not
mean that something is actually worth anything. I am certainly not being
paid to tender this email or formulate a response. Is my time worth
something? Well... it depends on how you look at it.

Now, does something have to cost something to be "of value". Of course not,
look at the Linux Kernel. Many companies and people hold the Linux Kernel
project in very high esteem but yet it costs nothing to download. Do Linus
and others actually spent worthwhile time developing it? Of course. Because
it costs nothing does that mean it has less value? Of course not.

Value, worth, preference. All things that have perception in common. Is
Mozilla any "better" because it runs on multiple platforms? (Better, another
perception word.) I do not think so. Because it satisfies preference maybe?
Sure... if that makes you happy.

My point was -- to slight a program, company, feature, etc. because it only
supports one of the possible platforms or user bases is unfair. Most often
the reason only one thing is supported is by either intention or because of
money (cost control) based development costs.

This is such an exciting time to be involved in computers just because of
Linux in my opinion. Flexibility, scalability, diverse choice in services,
security, low cost... the list goes on. Will Linux (or any one distribution)
survive the next few years of distribution owners paying for download
bandwidth and future development costs? I don't know or presume to know. I
do know however, that Linux and the Open Source movement of roll-your-own if
you don't like it template has been cast and the world has already begun to
change. MS is faced with being able to become more security able and
flexible or have people choose an alternative. The days of MS doing what the
fell like and the world will just accept it are beginning to end... when is
that ending and how? Well... if I knew I would not be emailing the PLUG
right now. I would be out on the Internet trying to make money on it :)

Kam Salisbury
MCSE, Linux+, CNA
http://kamsalisbury.com
http://pwig.org


----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul" <paul@dpagin.net>
To: <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 3:44 PM
Subject: Re: [PLUG] OSS desktop (windows) anti-virus?


> How much is money spent on developing Mozilla or The GIMP?  They run
> under multiple platforms, even ones with smaller user bases.  I prefer
> programs that run on both Linux and Windows over programs that only run
> under one or the other.  It comes down to philosphy and business, not
> necessarily money.
>
>
> Kam Salisbury wrote:
>
> >Doesn't make market sense I guess. Why spend lots of development money
> >trying to craft a supported framework for all possible users when it is
> >cheaper to target the largest user base instead.
> >
> >
>
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