Joanna
Dwayne Monroe wrote:
>Doug:
>
>Under the free software model, how are programmers
>expected to pay the rent the ISP bill?
>
>==================
>
>
>The software doesn't have to be free as Linux based
>firms such as Red Hat demonstrate.
>
>What remains free is access to the code and the
>ability - without fear of the wind and vertigo of
>legal tangles - to modify that code to suit your
>requirements.
>
>
>"Closed source" vendors like Microsoft will send you
>to the 9th level of hell for altering the internals of
>their OSes and applications. This is because,
>ultimately, vigorous IP enforcement protects their
>yearly profit objectives and is understood as being
>more important than the product itself or the
>customer's needs.
>
>The GNU General Public License
>
>see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gpl>
>
>is designed to prevent this (legal attacks to wall off
>IP) from happening while allowing for profit taking
>from software artifacts made under the license.
>
>
>Profit can come from packaged versions of the GPL'ed
>product - again, see Red Hat and Novell/SUSE et. al. -
>and also from offering professional support and
>enhancement services, among other activities.
>
>
>
>
>
>.d.
>
>
>
>---------
>
>http://monroelab.net/blog/index.html
>
><<<<<>>>>>
>
>"I've tried everything...reason, quantum explosives, portable singularity traps, cupcakes, nothing convinces this guy."
>
>Doctor Impossible
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>
>
>