[plug] Fwd: [SLUG] Lucky 13 for Linux

[Greg Mildenhall]

On Mon, 12 Apr 1999, Trevor Phillips wrote:
> Greg Mildenhall wrote:
> > Ummm, so you're proud of it, but you don't want anyone else to use it or
> > see it? You can't be too proud of it.
> Most of my code is web-server based, and so lots of people see it,
> without knowing what's actually happening under the bonnet.
But of course more could/would see it/appreciate it if you shared.

> > > Micro$oft's way, I think they DO overcharge,
> > I don't think they do overcharge. They charge what the market will bear,
> > like any company, but they are operating in a market that's natural
> > balance has been completely broken by government intervention.
> Even the scheme to charge people a Yearly fee for their OS?
The government allows them to take away as many rights as they like from
their customers. They have an obligation to their investors to use this
fact to abuse consumers in order to generate more revenue.

> > Many people are financially rewarded for writing free software, and the
> > numbers are rising exponentially at the moment.
> Want to explain how an average developer can get paid for a product
> distributed for no cost?
Sorry, it's only happening for a very lucky few at the moment, but the
momentum is there. You could work for Redhat, IBM, Netscape, or some other
company creating free software, but those jobs are not yet plentiful
enough to be attainable by the "average developer". The Free Software
Bazaar, which I mentioned earlier in this thread, suggests a plausible
mechanism by which all software needs can be met by free software, and the
free software developers paid for their work.

You are quite right when you say it is not an option at present.
But to my mind, it is the best way for the future, and we should be
working towards promoting such a future.

-Greg