Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 07:07:49 -0500 (EST) From: "John S. Dyson" <dyson@FreeBSD.ORG> To: eivind@yes.no (Eivind Eklund) Cc: jak@cetlink.net, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: commercial software (definitive) Message-ID: <199805161207.HAA03332@dyson.iquest.net> In-Reply-To: <19980516131158.03409@follo.net> from Eivind Eklund at "May 16, 98 01:11:58 pm"
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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" > > <toor@dyson.iquest.net> 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
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