http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/11/19/HNgplthreatens_1.html
"McBride likened the notion of free software to a variety of movements including file sharing, the dot-com bubble, and even free love. He predicted that the proprietary and open-source worlds were on a "collision course," that would ultimately result in the end of the GPL license." I've lain in the bath a few times over the last few months (no smart remarks - usually I shower) and contemplated the idea of free software. I've come to the conclusion that it's inevitable and unavoidable, and the main reason is the proliferation of development platorms. When I first started in IT, there were about 10,000 systems on this planet capable of running a compiler. And most of those were under such tight audit control that running an unauthorised batch job was a dismissable offence. Machine time was charged out at hundreds or even thousands of pounds per CPU hour, and unauthorised use was theft. Now, there are literally hundreds of millions of systems capable of running a compiler. Payne's Fourth Law (mine) expounded in 1989 was - "If it's free on the network anywhere, it's free on the network everywhere." The same is becoming true of software. Probably lots of people in lots of places have written exactly what you need. It only takes one of them not to charge and that software is free. You will, for example, never be able to charge for search engine services ever again. The same is true of software. Apart from pretty highly specialised stuff, free software is inevitable. -- Phil Payne http://www.isham-research.com +44 7785 302 803
