RE: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?

Subject: RE: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?
From: "Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2005 22:11:24 -0400



> [mailto:bounce-techwr-l-137490 -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
> Of Bruce Byfield
>
> On Sat, 2005-08-20 at 20:41 -0400, Bonnie Granat wrote:
>
> >
> > >From what I have learned (finally found a site that explained it
> > intelligibly, but it took far too long to find a single
> site that explained
> > this most critical point, IMO)
>
> Did you try Wikipedia? There's a lot of accurate material on free and
> open source software (FOSS) on it.
>

Yes, that is where I started. But there is only a small article on FOSS.



> > about the philosophy of OS by doing some
> > research over the past couple of days, the idea is to
> purchase software from
> > a company that sells OS software it has put its own stamp
> on PLUS support --
> > *not* to download a "free tool" and use it with only your
> own company's
> > support.
>
> No, this is not the general philosophy of FOSS. FOSS is an end in
> itself.

Perhaps someone could write a Wikipedia article on it.

>
> The open source community is friendlier to business than the free
> software community is, but business isn't all that it's
> about. In fact,
> where it interacts with business, it is openly trying to transform how
> business is done.
>

I'd like to see an article that sets forth these things crisply and clearly.


> What you describe is what a few companies have tried to do - not all.
> And even those companies often donate time and energy to the
> downloadable versions, because they benefit along with everyone else.

Yes, that's what I understood. It was very hard for me to find any clear
information. If you know of specific articles that are good, I'd love to
hear about them. I am frankly tired of trying to hunt down information.

>
> I can't repeat this point too many times: If you look at open source
> expecting a profit motive, you will only have a very murky idea of
> what's going on.
>

Do the people involved in this have other jobs and earn money some other way
than working on this software?
Is what they do considered "volunteer work," so that it is not a part of the
economy in a dollar value sense?

Do the individuals in this endeavor want to have everything in society free?
What am I missing here? Is the "profit motive" seen as something evil rather
than a method of providing jobs for many people as well as providing for
one's own personal needs?

I recall years ago wondering about this, and I know somebody gave me some
answer, but I frankly do not remember what it was. I had thought it was the
answer I found from my research, but now you are saying that's incorrect.

There's something about this that I just don't understand.

I don't know why this has to be so mysterious.

Bonnie Granat | http://www.GranatEdit.com
bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com
Cambridge, Massachusetts, US



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References:
RE: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?: From: Bruce Byfield

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