Re: free vs commercial
On Fri, 21 Jan 2005, [iso-8859-1] Rogério Brito wrote:
I agree completely. Indeed, in an academic world, I see free software
the same way I see a theorem or a contribution to Science: you don't
just publish a paper for you to use the theorems there.
You want people to actually read your paper and to cite it and to
contribute back once they've gained something from your work. This way, you
also get "paid" in a sense that is, often, as much pleasing as an economic
reward.
This is known as a gift economy. Many human societies seem to have
operated this way in the past and science largely does to this day.
Of late a few sociologists have pointed out that the gift economy of open
source is nothing new and could in fact be seen as a return to ancient
value systems.
Cheers,
Rob
--
Robert Brockway B.Sc.
Senior Technical Consultant, OpenTrend Solutions Ltd.
Phone: 416-669-3073 Email: rbrockway@opentrend.net http://www.opentrend.net
OpenTrend Solutions: Reliable, secure solutions to real world problems.
Contributing Member of Software in the Public Interest (www.spi-inc.org)
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