Re: [Fsfe-uk] BECTA discriminate against FLOSS?

[ian]

On Sat, 2004-01-03 at 23:45, Chris Croughton wrote:
> Most of the VB programmers I've found write and publish
> completely free code, not GPL pseudo-free.

Almost certainly because they have no means of capitalising on that code
anyway. The main costs are marketing and individuals simply haven't the
resources so they might as well let others use it without bothering
about the hassle and they might get some recognition. Its a bit like
music. The main agents against Napster et al are the big recording
companies. The average band would be only too pleased to have their work
publicised on the Internet by giving it away free. Would all music
suddenly cease if a few mega stars and the recording industries didn't
make millions from copyright CDs? I don't think so. As it gets cheaper
to record high quality music (and to originate high quality software)
the Internet as a distribution medium will increasingly put pressure on
traditional commercial systems associated with these activities and the
vested interests will fight tooth and nail to preserve their power and
money base just as the Church fought the printing press. I think it will
take some time to shake out, but rather less time than it took to
establish printing and universal reading as more sensible than a few
literate monks holding all the power. Incidentally, monks haven't
disappeared, and neither will commercial software, its just that the
balance of power will shift significantly.

-- 
ian <address@hidden>