Re: [RE: RPG Code on the NET]

[boldt@xxxxxxxxxx]

Frank wrote:
>...  Very basic
>questions are raised here. The fundamental communal effort that is involved in
>such a concept raises issues of socialism and communism versus the issues of
>capitalism. I am sure there has been deeper discussion of these points by far
>greater minds than mine and that I am hardly qualified to expound.  It has
>been shown in the past that communal efforts are doomed to fail, their
>champions carry the day for a while but then grow old and weary and rarely is
>a new champion found for more than a gereration or two. Is Free Software also
>'tilting at windmills' I fear so but hope not.

I'm no expert at economics, but as I understand it, the Free Software
movement can be explained completely using capitalistic economic models.
Although it looks and smells like communism, it really isn't.  I'll try
to summarise the argument, but other documents on the web really explain
this much better than I can:

Consider the way goods are priced.  A product is priced such that the
manufacturer doesn't lose money.  In other words, the minimum price of
a product is the cost of manufacture.  (Product development costs are
considered "sunk costs" and so don't enter into the equation - don't
ask me to explain why.)  Now look at software.  What's the cost of
reproducing a piece of software?  As you know, it can be zero dollars!
Post the code (or MPEG) on the internet, and let your customers download
it themselves for pennies.  As you know, more money is made in this
industry on services, not on the software.

I agree there is a risk that the youthful idealism that drive the Free
Software movement might just dry up, but in this case, it is economic
theory that's driving the price of s/w down to nothing, not the idealism.
There is a demand for free software, and there is the ability for people
to provide it (regardless of their motives).

Cheers!  Hans

Hans Boldt, ILE RPG Development, IBM Toronto Lab, boldt@ca.ibm.com


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