Andrew Ho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Thu, 18 Dec 2003, Adrian Midgley wrote: > ... > > How does one build Open Source healthcare software so as to stay > out of > > hot water in a variety of economic models? > > Adrian, > > If I may, I believe the question you posed is utterly non-sense.
Impeccably well mannered. > Economic models attempt to describe real-world occurances, > observations, > transactions, behaviors. Open source software are real-world objects > that > are produced, traded, and used. > Thus, however one goes about producing software, these real-world > behaviors just cannot "get into hot water" relative to any economic > model. > One the other hand, certain economic models may not adequately > describe/explain/predict certain real-world occurances. Then, maybe a > new > model is needed. > If I misunderstood your question, please feel free to clarify. If I may answer in Adrian's stead for the time being... Yes, you misunderstood the question. Adrian was referring to the fact that in order to be useful, health software (open source or not) needs to model or reflect the social and economic milieu in which it is used, and these environments differ from country to country. His question was how to generalise software so that it suits a number of settings, from the mostly private-sector healthcare system in the US, to the primarily state-run health systems in many European countries, and many shades in between. A very sensible question, without a simple answer, I fear. He was not asking about how to trade in open source software as goods (or services). Tim C
