A very interesting take on it, Civil-san. I myself hope for a good mix. The company I work for is quite decent, provides EXCELLENT support for the specialized software we sell and our customers love us and become friends. But it is expensive because it just takes a lot of time to upkeep and develop new features for, and it is not a mass-market item. So it remains proprietary. Actually, it is sort of a proprietary/open mix because the add-on scripts we provide are all open source.
doug [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Wednesday, December 26, 2001): >Doug Lerner wrote: > >>What do people think about free vs commercial software in general? I >>myself don't object to commercial software. In fact, I work for a company >>that makes very high-quality commercial software with a great, loyal >>customer base. >> >>Surely there is nothing wrong with paying to have software supported and >>updated? >> >>doug >> >> >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Wednesday, December 26, 2001): >> >>>MAndrakesoft is committed to free software. All the Mandrake Tools are >>>licensed under the GNU GEneral Public License and source is available. >>> > >Well, commercial software for a specific purpose is OK. We are >attempting to prove that alternative business models that do not >restrict technical information _are_ viable. > >The linux distros that follow heavily commercial models are SuSE with a >proprietary installer, Caldera with per-seat licensing, and to a much >smaller extent, RedHat. Debian is pretty much GPL, as is Connectiva, >and I have no idea about Slackware, > >As for my own feeling. I could be working for more money somewhere else >as a developer or system administrator. I am with Mandrakesoft instead >because .... > >I think technical information belongs to the human race as a whole. > There is too much potential for a corporation to keep something secret, >or to buy out developments and restrict them because current technology >hasn't been milked dry yet. I personally know of an engine with two >moving parts, no pollution, constant torque from 0 to 10000rpm, and 40 >km/l kerosene and virtually no pollution. It was bought by a major >manufactutrer and promptly disappeared. There are disease cures that >are unprofitable to produce and so are squelched, as well. Somewhere, >technically savvy people needed to take a stand and show that profit >motive is not necessarily related to progress... That people also work >for love of the art and an inner sense of accomplishment. > >As to the actions of Microsoft and its predatory practices, I find them >the worst example of what is motivated by profit, something obscene and >reprehensible. > >Civileme > >>> >>> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> > > >Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? >Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
