Walter Hurst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > While I agree with this article about the internet providing the > medium for a far flung user base to provide feedback (aren't there > always users out there who want more for nothing?) - that same > internet doesn't mystically sprout ideas and individuals willing to > act on those ideas (for free, no less). While Walker may think that > Linux and Apache were predestined to come about due to the internet, > that line of thinking is akin to waiting for the fabled room full of > monkeys to eventually produce a work of Shakespeare (why hasn't the > internet given us that by now?).
Not just feedback. It's saying that access to specialized knowledge has increased the # of programmers => more code => less $/byte , particularly when the userbase is big. People will give code away for the same reasons they do unpaid internships - it (hopefully) helps their careers. The exception (in the article), "vertical software markets", have fewer users with greater needs. I think CAD software fits this model; there are very few open source/free CAD packages out there and most are simply demos. Autocad, Pro-E and the like are still spendy packages but if you're in the business you have to buy them. Of course even the CAD market has a sort of o.s. "community" - there are oodles of parts libraries and macros out there free for the downloading. Anyways, though I don't agree with every argument the article does make some good points about how the open source model meshes with that "invisible hand" that economists often refer to. As for the monkeys lack of literary achievement, maybe we're still a few shy of infinity? ;) _______________________________________________ EUGLUG mailing list [email protected] http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
