On Dec 15, 2005, at 4:17 AM, Alan Gutierrez wrote:
* Mike Fedyk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2005-12-15 03:42]:
Schneider, Silvio wrote:
Business will never quite get the idea of giving away product or
trade
secrets without having it be a loss leader. That's just
business, plain
and simple.
So why then is asterisk open source? Think about it and rewire your
braincells.
Because the software is the loss-leader...
Uh, huh. It sound like the high-school arguments against altrusim.
Q) Why then would a person give their time and money to the poor?
A) To alliveate their own guilt, thus giving to charity is a purely
selfish act.
Well, not to get off topic, but you use the word selfish as if that
is a bad thing! The reasons a person might give their time and money
to the poor as diverse as the people involved. Someone might give
because they like to, because it makes them feel good, because they
might be poor one day and they would like someone to do the same for
them, because it makes them happy... All of those are selfish reasons
and GOOD reasons! On the other hand, giving to charity because you
feel obligated, because you think you have to, or in spite of the
fact that you don't like to are all unselfish and BAD reasons.
Selfish != bad; don't assume it does.
As for the current topic, Asterisk isn't open source because it's a
loss-leader for Digium, simply because Asterisk pre-dates digium's
founding. Asterisk is indeed a loss leader for Digium, but that
wasn't the reason it is open-source. I don't know the reason that
Asterisk was open sourced, but I guarantee it was a selfish one! (and
open sourcing something because it makes you feel good to contribute
something to the community is a selfish reason.)
Lastly, open sourcing a business plan isn't a bad idea, per se. It
has it's pitfalls (you might be helping your future competitors), and
its benefits (You might end up with a better plan, and even a better
business, by getting help from the community at large.) Now, whether
open sourcing YOUR business plan is a good idea for you is another
question entirely!
Tom
--------------------
Tom Rymes
Cascade Link Systems
www.cascadelinksystems.com
(603) 375-1414
"Intelligent technology solutions for small businesses."
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