On Sun, 2002-12-15 at 20:45, Dhruv Gami wrote:
>
> After a long discussion about this, we came to another fundamental
> conceptual problem taken up by Leo. He brought up the issue of whether
> software is a product or a service. According to him, software is a piece
> of information, it is knowledge, and cannot be packaged and sold. Another
Some points for reflection seem in order here:
It is not merely a question of whether software is a product or a
service or that it "cannot be packaged and sold". Even a service, or for
that matter information and knowledge is being packaged and sold. The
"productization" or commodification of goods and services is an
essential characteristic of the market economy that has emerged from the
Industrial Age. Goods are manufactured, services are provided in the
market for a price. (correct me if I am wrong, I Am Not An Economist)
It seemed logical therefore to set up companies to "manufacture"
software, package them into "complete", "finished" products and sell
them in the market for other companies or people to use as "tools" or as
inputs to the production of other goods and services. Buying a computer
(hardware and software) does not then appear very different from buying
a typewriter, a xerox machine or any other piece of equipment.
Yet we see that software has a more organic characteristic. It has
characteristics of an in-built freedom to grow, develop, evolve,
build-upon existing components.It is not merely a tool to process,
manage and work with information. It is more like a language, defined by
a technology designed to work with information.
Hence the relevance of terms like "Computer Literacy". In day-to-day use
people use the term as though there was an agreed upon definition - both
of "language" and of "literacy". And in most instances, computer
literacy merely amounts to having the skills to operate or work with
particular software products.
If we consider software as the language that drives an information
economy or a knowledge society, then in that sense, software cannot
proprietary.
It may therefore be useful to explore historically the link between
language, culture and knowledge if we are to get a sense of direction of
where we are headed. And if we situate free/open source software within
this context, we could be exploring a new culture more appropriate to a
knowledge society. Collaboration, sharing, not re-inventing the wheel,
building upon community owned knowledge, entrusting to humanity what
belongs to it: language and communication!
Apologies for the long post! - Considering that I post perhaps once a
year, may I be excused?
Leo
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