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

[Greg Mildenhall]

On Tue, 13 Apr 1999, Trevor Phillips wrote:
> Greg Mildenhall wrote:
> > On Mon, 12 Apr 1999, Trevor Phillips wrote:
> > > 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.
> That's part of the problem; from the outside it looks like a fairly
> decent web page, but I know what wizardry is going on underneath. Trying
> to explain it to your average person (and even your above-average
> web-smart person) is difficult. ^_^
What I mean is, if it populated more websites, more endusers would see it.

> > 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
> But do they get paid for free software? 
Yes. There are people working on GNOME, Jikes, Mozilla - and being paid
for it.

> Netscape's income is from the sale of their server products, which are
> not free. Their browser is free, primarily because Microsoft have a free
> one, so they had to match to keep in the ball-park. 
Internet Explorer is not free.
It is not even free in a monetary sense - you pay extra for Windows
because it has IE bundled.

> And if you like your free Netscape browser, you're more likely to buy
> their servers.
But you have a choice. Personally, I use the Mozilla, browser, but I use
Apache for a webserver. I don't think the motives of the company change
the underlying freeness of the software.

> BTW: Does Linus Torvalds get his primary income from Linux-related
> activities?? Has he quit his day job? ^_^
He has been offered the opportunity many,many times - even before he _had_
a day-job - but has declined because he felt that a project's technical
lead should be free from commercial influences.
So he found a company that, given the reputation he had earned from
writing free software, employed him in a different field and allow him to
continue his work on Linux much of the time.

> > 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.
> It sounds like a lovely future image, but I'd like to be a programmer,
> and I'd also like to feed my wife and kid. ^_^
It will only take time. As I have said, the seeds have been planted, the
consumers are waking up and people are seeing the merits of free software
demonstrated daily. I have just realised another example of someone being
paid to write free software - myself. It is not direct, but at the moment
I am recieving Austudy while I do my honours project - which is 
effectively a piece of free software.

-Greg Mildenhall