"The important real difference that you are neglecting is that the directors of commercial software vendors have an obligation under company law to make as much profit as legally possible for the owners of the business. They usually aim to achieve this by charging the highest possible prices that the largest possible number of customers is willing to pay."
So - when this happens, the other vendors have a choice - either stay competitive or find another market. Or...the government could fund Argus in the public interest as the national clinical messaging system so that users do not need to be asked to pay. I have put this to the federal Minister of Health this morning at a meeting with him. Excellent idea. Unfortunately, Governments (historically) aren't renowned for doing what's best. I once heard it put "An elected official's primary focus is on re-election and that alone. Everything else is secondary" To achieve this they use spin and the media. So, this (roughly) translates as - "The Government give us what the Media tells them we want". > >> This shifts the difference to "with proprietary software, those using it must pay" >Do you use Winzip or Adobe Acrobat Reader? Do you pay for them? Were they public funded products? I am not aware of their origin. _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
