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From: john@x.UUCP (John Woods)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: The GNU Manifesto - let the people decide
Message-ID: <459@x.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 4-Apr-85 13:17:50 EST
Article-I.D.: x.459
Posted: Thu Apr  4 13:17:50 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 7-Apr-85 09:33:41 EST
References: <4536@ucla-cs.ARPA> <258@looking.UUCP>
Organization: Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA
Lines: 40

> written by fanatical communists like RMS.  (I'm not name calling, I use
> these terms as an accurate description based on my mail conversations with
> the man.)

I know Richard.  Fanatical, yes.  Communist, certainly not.  Check your
mailer to see if it is Huffman encoding messages in and out of your site.

> 
> And remember, the "quality" of a product must be judged over a period of
> time.  ...  Will people hang onto it long after it
> is obsolete just because it is free?
>
Sadly, rather likely.  Just like they hang onto bad software just because it
is IBM, or because they have a huge investment of their time in it, or any
number of other reasons for not paying for new software.  Some of these
reasons would also cause them to hold onto software they've purchased even
when a superior free package comes out, too.

I doubt you have a number for how much money you lost to free software and
software pirates, as neither effect is honestly quantifiable.  I have no
idea how you r[ua]n your business, but when I buy software, I wish to receive
support which is better than that which I could do myself (and given its
existance, I will buy software).  If you are going to worry about software
which is quite inferior but free, remember that you also have competition from
software that is slightly inferior and slightly less expensive than yours,
as well as software that is markedly better and much more expensive (as well
as better/less expensive, and worse/more expensive...).

It may just be the nature of the software business that it is quite difficult
to come out with an expensive piece of software whose functionality truly
eclipses any free software, even given the propensity for non-maintenance.
Compare it to the auto industry:  very few people can practically build their
own cars (and they don't grow on [conference] trees :-).  But that is hardly
the fault of people who write free software.

-- 
John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (617) 626-1101
...!decvax!frog!john, ...!mit-eddie!jfw, jfw%mit-ccc@MIT-XX.ARPA

You can't spell "vile" without "vi".