On Thursday 03 July 2003 10:43 am, Bernard Hill wrote: > > So what encourages the developer to develop code if there is no payment > to the developer? >
AMK mostly summarised it. I found it difficult to really understand why it took off until I read what RMS (Richard Stallman) wrote about it (from memory): "I cannot enjoy a piece of software without sharing it with my friends". He goes on to explain that this has to mean creating Free software, but that one sentence is as succinct as I think you can get. When you consider that a bunch of mostly unpaid developers created from scratch an operating system and a complete suite of software which I've been using as my only desktop for almost a year, that's quite something. That doesn't mean that all software should be made Free. Your software is unique, as far as I know, in coming as close to a freehand notation package as possible. I don't think there's anything else with your focus. In turn, that means there isn't all that many folk that need exactly what you provide (but the folks like Willie Donaldson who do, really do). So charge them for it. And when you're retired, and you're looking at spending your time in a rocking chair, whack a GPL on it and bask in the knowledge that people are benefitting from your generosity. In the meantime, earn your living. There is a kind of zone in between two kinds of software, the one-man project of very specialised interest (abc*ps would be at the upper end of this), and high-usage applications where many developers can collaborate to create a replacement for commercial software. This zone, where your application sits, is probably the least suited to Free software. > I confess I don't understand the Linux setup *at all*. Neither do I, I'm just grateful. Cheers, Calum To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
