Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 14:11:41 -0500 (EST) From: "John S. Dyson" <dyson@iquest.net> To: brett@lariat.org (Brett Glass) Cc: dyson@iquest.net, tlambert@primenet.com, gsutter@pobox.com, pfgiffun@bachue.usc.unal.edu.co, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: New CODA release Message-ID: <199902091911.OAA60370@y.dyson.net> In-Reply-To: <4.1.19990209110549.0457f100@mail.lariat.org> from Brett Glass at "Feb 9, 99 11:10:35 am"
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Brett Glass said:
> At 11:02 AM 2/9/99 -0500, John S. Dyson wrote:
>
> >I agree... It seems that alot of people (who subscribe to GPL) tend have
> >made it into their religion well before they have thought about and realized
> >how insidious it is.
>
> So, the question remains: What can we do? What does it PAY to do? I wish
> to have options other than Microsoft or GPLed compilers, utilities, etc.
> Commercial products are disappearing as Microsoft and the GPL enter and
> destroy markets, and there's only a limited amount of stuff available
> under BSD-type licenses. (What's more, more of this code seems to be
> falling prey to the GPL virus daily.)
>
> How can I maximize my chances of having a real choice in the future? The
> twin pincers of Microsoft and the GPL seem destined to cut off all else
> except the relatively small amount of BSD-licensed software that's
> out there.
>
It seems that there are two very insidious forces. IMO, it also appears
that we need to realize that the most effective force for sanity will be
when the market starts drying up. When the indoctorinated programmers
start finding that they need to feed their families, and that the
zealots and profiteers have played a terrible number on them, then
we'll start seeing changes.
There'll always be the under 25 set that don't need to worry about their
futures, and in a twisted way, compare themselves with the CDROM
manufacturers who are making the money. I sure hope that they eventually
realize that the distributors of GPLed code have all of the control that
the developers have, without the time investment. (time doesn't equal
money for those who are still living off of their parents or living
off of grants.)
When the commerical market starts drying up, then the not-so-young anymore
programmers will stop giving it away like the high school wild girls, and
will start realizing that they need to take care of themselves, or be working
at McDonald's... Survival will motivate those misled idealistic people to
revisit their mistakes. Take a look at the majority of the '60's people
who have had to grow up -- the change and evolution takes time, but only
after significant damage :-(.
In the meantime, all we can do is to plant the ideas in their heads, and
hope that the ideas grow into something better than the poison that is
in there right now. We cannot control the situation, and simply observe
and deal with the folly right now. Each of us is already very
gainfully employed, and we all just need to take care of ourselves to
maintain our lifestyles and families.
GPL isn't taking over the world, but is becoming more significant, only
as a side-effect of all of the free labor that has been taken advantage
of. The key and eventual reason why GPL will fall in on itself, is that
the benefit of working on the code is insignificant (except for those
who can work for free, or who are playing a shell game with "support
fees"), and the maturity of real products (both commercial and free/non_GPL)
due to the experience of the more established developers. Those soon
to be ex-GPL developers will have to leave the GPL world, when their
child is hungry and crying. It makes no sense to argue that companies
who are pressing CDROMs or overcharging for support fees are in the
same category as the individual who is really doing the development
work.
I suspect that in a few years, as the people who are being taken advantage
of by the GPL pyramid grow up, they'll still love the idea of free software,
but realize that over the years that they have been working on GPLed works,
that they haven't really been working on "free software". They'll realize
that they had been working on software that is "feeding" those who are
overcharging on support contracts or on software that is "feeding" those
who are pressing CDROMs, mostly not paying for the meat of the development.
There'll always be a market for free and quality commercial software. It
is those who are selling themselves short like a promiscuous girl who will
continue to be taken advantage of, and continue to be pawns of those
who have significant political, economic or other agendas.
--
John | Never try to teach a pig to sing,
dyson@iquest.net | it makes one look stupid
| and it irritates the pig.
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