From owner-freebsd-chat Sat May 16 05:08:00 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id FAA06572 for freebsd-chat-outgoing; Sat, 16 May 1998 05:08:00 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from dyson.iquest.net (dyson.iquest.net [198.70.144.127]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id FAA06562 for ; Sat, 16 May 1998 05:07:56 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from toor@dyson.iquest.net) Received: (from root@localhost) by dyson.iquest.net (8.8.8/8.8.8) id HAA03332; Sat, 16 May 1998 07:07:49 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from toor) Message-Id: <199805161207.HAA03332@dyson.iquest.net> Subject: Re: commercial software (definitive) In-Reply-To: <19980516131158.03409@follo.net> from Eivind Eklund at "May 16, 98 01:11:58 pm" To: eivind@yes.no (Eivind Eklund) Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 07:07:49 -0500 (EST) Cc: jak@cetlink.net, chat@FreeBSD.ORG From: "John S. Dyson" Reply-To: dyson@FreeBSD.ORG X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL38 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Eivind Eklund said: > On Sat, May 16, 1998 at 10:01:49AM +0000, John Kelly wrote: > > On Fri, 15 May 1998 22:57:38 -0500 (EST), "John S. Dyson" > > wrote: > > > > >When GPLed parts of the system have to be hacked on, it is > > >understood apriori that the work will not be a part of the > > >competitive advantage ... (I do like hacking on GCC and stuff, > > >but know that any potential competitive advantage is lost > > > > Some in management believe that competitive advantage must include > > trade secrets. But the truth is that superior customer service is far > > more powerful in gaining competitive advantage. That's why I believe > > that limitations of the GPL are mostly imaginary. > > Then the GPL people should ask themselves: Do we want a world where > success isn't determined by technical excellence at all, but by > 'customer service' (mostly handholding) and marketing _only_? > > I know that I don't want such a world. > Don't we already have a marketing only world mostly anyway (Microsoft?) Big support companies can be and are just as predatory as big software houses like Microsoft. -- John | Never try to teach a pig to sing, dyson@freebsd.org | it just makes you look stupid, jdyson@nc.com | and it irritates the pig. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message