>In any case, I think, you have a misconception about open-source. It is
>driven by actual work. I find it only fair that you pay for a certain
>feature you want, given that many people worked long time to give you
>most of the code for free. (If somebody implements also your favorite
>feature for free, all the better for you.)
Of course it's driven by actual work. The source of the
disagreement comes from the GOAL of the work that is done. Since you
are running a business, your goal is to make money. That's fine, you
have every right to do so. However, I DON'T think that that's the
goal of *everybody* who invests their time and energy into open source
projects. Just like at David Harris' Pegasus Mail. While he would
like to make money off of his project, he does it more for the love of
the project itself than for any other end goal. He enjoys creating
his application for the sake of the application itself.
When I think of open source I think of the David Harris model -
I'll admit that I'm biased. I'd rather think of having children
because of the love that they will bring me in taking care of them and
raising them, than I ever would because of the chance that they'll
somebody grow up to be good business people and give me some money
back. (Perhaps it is unfair to equate business with personal life -
but, then again, perhaps it isn't. Many programmers would think of
themselves as taking part in the art of creation, rather than the
business of economy.)
In any case, whatever somebody's personal reasons for creation are
(and I gladly accept everybody's reasons because I can only speak for
myself), there is one thing that IS certain about open source: it
embodies contributions by everybody who wishes to contribute; it's a
group effort; the final creation is far more than the sum of its
parts. This is, I believe, a very good thing. Because, to some
degree, I could be wrong. Maybe there should be less idealism and
more capitalism. (I don't think I'm wrong but I'll accept that I
might be.) What open source does is allow for different viewpoints,
and give the greatest opportunity for the greatest number of voices.
Jason.
