| Art Alexion on 3 Nov 2007 18:46:45 -0000 |
|
On Friday, 26 October 2007 19:50, Stephen Gran wrote: > On Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 03:28:57PM -0400, Art Alexion said: > > On Thursday 25 October 2007 11:12:17 Sean C. Sheridan wrote: > > > Many people may not understand that you may charge for your software > > > and still have it fall under the category of "free software" > > > > I'm not sure I understand how that coexists with "The freedom to > > redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2)." > > > > While a scenario may exist where entity A sells > > program-which-is-open-source, but allows others to distribute it for free > > (or for a charge), that doesn't seem like a real world scenario. > > That is mysql's business model. And redhat's. And many others. > Seeling software bundling, or support along with the software, or some > other thing like that, is and has been a viable model, judging by the > number of companies making bundles of cash at it. Right, but they aren't really selling software, are they? They are selling support. Right now, I am working on providing Linux desktops as an alternative in an existing MS infrastructure that isn't going anywhere for a while. I am pushing Novell's Suse at this point. Why? I like the Ubuntu family more, but Novell seems to be offering an out-of-the-box solution that integrates quite well with our infrastructure. I have a copy that I can duplicate as much as I like, but I only get support with a license. So what am I buying with the license? Not software. I am buying support. So I still believe in my initial position -- people aren't buying software they can get for free, they are buying support contracts dressed up as software licenses. -- _____________________________________________________________ Art Alexion PGP fingerprint: 52A4 B10C AA73 096F A661 92D2 3B65 8EAC ACC5 BA7A Keyserver: hkp://subkeys.pgp.net The attachment - signature.asc - is my electronic signature; no need for alarm. Info @ http://mysite.verizon.net/art.alexion/encryption/signature.asc.what.html _____________________________________________________________ Attachment:
pgpCtp7u52W83.pgp ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
|
|