> -----Original Message----- > From: Phil Payne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > 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.
Its inevitable as the abstraction gets further away from the machine. In the days when the OS was essentially a re-entrant program loader and CPU power was limited there was money to be had down at this level. Now that CPU power and the OS have dropped down the food chain and are essentially commodity items it isn't possible the same kind of profit on them. I used to work at the University in Manchester, in which there is a Whitworth building. Before Whitworth came along people made nuts and bolts by hand, a high cost operation, proprietary occupation. Once he introduced a machine to automate the cutting of threads in a repeatable, high quality, way the hand cutting industry was doomed. The open, standard way of producing displaced the proprietary. I see the software industry in the same way. Internet communications are not secure and therefore the Barclays Group does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Although the Barclays Group operates anti-virus programmes, it does not accept responsibility for any damage whatsoever that is caused by viruses being passed. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Barclays Group. Replies to this email may be monitored by the Barclays Group for operational or business reasons.
