From: Wjhonson > Tony, the link I posted has tons of free code. Just no MV BASIC implementation. So the tons of free code there has nothing to do with your suggestion that "someone" write something new.
> So "giving it away for free" is not anything new, although I know that > attacking that idea is your own personal hobby horse :) I manage and/or contribute to freeware on Google Code, Codeplex, Sourceforge, GitHub, PickWiki, my own freeware page, and elsewhere. I also provide occasional forum support for various freeware projects and Android apps. It's easily evident that I don't have any axe to grind against freeware. > I was just suggesting maybe there could also be a BASIC algorithm > listed on that link, along with all the other ones listed. And I just have a visceral reaction when people _assume_ that something of value is going to be written on uncompensated time, given away for free, and then maintained at no cost by people who obviously derive commercial benefit. You mistake my pro-FOSS comments as attacks. The problem with the FOSS model is that it's horrendously abused by people who take but don't give back, by people who assume that there is no cost in terms of time or contributions, let alone money) for what they consume, but people who casually suggest that someone else will provide slave labor for the benefit of all. The FOSS world is a mass graveyard of dead projects abandoned by altruistic developers who've been abused by hoards of people who love their software creations - and when one developer is beaten down the locusts fly off to the next project. Our own community has hundreds of offerings that have suffered this fate. I support the model enough to point out its faults in the hope that good software doesn't go away because of the propagation of this inane idea that somehow it's all "free" - as in beer. One of the problems with this MV industry is that it's all about Take and not about Give. If this industry as a whole had a clue what FOSS was about (rather than just paying lip service) then we could be following the lead of many other platforms out there and attracting new developers. Far from attacking FOSS, I have strong objections to those who chronically don't understand how it works, especially when that erodes at our everyday business lives. _That_ is the hobby horse that I ride. T _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list [email protected] http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
