On Tue, 2004-10-05 at 03:22 -0500, -ray wrote: > > Scientists pursue science, for the sake of science. The people they work > for normally have some financial stake in the science, especially if > privately funded. It's hard enough to get funding for a company that > might actually make money. But private funding purely for the sake of > science? Gotta be rare... John told me to use my imagination. I am. I > imagine spacel travel/tourism will be a multi-billion dollar industry in > the next 10-15 years. I'd think Paul Allen imagines this also. Not that > there's anything wrong with that. Just don't think that the private > sector's involvement in space travel is only for the science of it. > > ray
Being a GNU/Linux user and supporter yourself, I'm quite frankly astounded at your viewpoint. GNU/Linux is a technology -> technology is science. The Free Software Foundation spent what little money it had on development, and the end result is a product that they really won't ever see a profit on. They did it because it benefits society as a whole (indeed, civilization as a whole). It's a pretty cynical viewpoint that sees funding for science as only an investment with an expected financial return. David Jackson
