Free' as in 'Free Enterprise'
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| number6x Apr 25, 2006 9:03 AM EDT |
When you hear the term 'Free Software' think of the term 'Free Enterprise' and you'll actually have a better understanding of what free and open source software is all about. Licenses Like the GPL(GNU Public License) actually allow you to charge as much as you want for your software. The sky's the limit. That's right. You can take someone else's copyrighted work, like the Linux kernel Linus Torvalds created, copyrighted, and released under the GPL, and sell it for as much as you can get. This is what businesses like Red Hat, SuSE, and Xandros do every day. Of course the GPL requires that you make the source code available for free, or a small charge to cover copying costs. After all it is someone else's copyrighted material. They are being nice letting you use it and modify it and redistribute it. You can't complain if there are a few strings attached, just compare that to the Microsoft license you agree to when you buy a copy of their OS! Of course the free source code thing is where the power of free markets and open competition come in to play. If you charge too much for your version of the GPL product, there comes a point where it is cheaper for me to take the free source code and compile my own kernel. The GPL has forced a commoditizing, competitive effect on the market place. Prices will only rise so high, and costs to businesses will be moderated through competition in the market place. This commoditizing effect forces costs to consumers down, and forces providers to actually enhance their products with services that the consumer will find beneficial in order to justify a higher price. Compare this to the closed software industry who wants to use the more socialist, anti-competitive approach of increasing patent and copyright restrictions. This will result in increasing government granted monopolies in sectors of the industry, further reducing competition and innovation in the market place. The closed software industry is currently lobbying for more anti-competitive socialist extensions to copyright and patent laws. Remember that it was Microsoft who brought Jack Abrahamoff to Washington as a lobbyist for Preston, Gates, and Ellis to lobby on behalf of Microsoft. That will give you a feel for the kind of tactics the closed source software vendors use. When you hear the term 'Free Software' you should immediately think of the term 'Free Enterprise'. Asking how people can make money if the software is free and open is like asking how people can make money if the marketplace is free and open. Or asking why the Sunday paper costs $2.00 if its full of 'Free Speech'. It shows either a complete mis-understanding of the ideas behind free software, or an intentional obfuscation of the truth. |
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