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From: garth@swatsun.uucp (Garth Snyder)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Software (and other kinds of) copying
Message-ID: <1532@carthage.UUCP>
Date: 22 Jan 88 21:45:11 GMT
References: <8055@g.ms.uky.edu> <174@piring.cwi.nl>
Reply-To: garth@carthage.UUCP (Garth Snyder)
Organization: Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA
Lines: 42
Keywords: technology changes things


    > In article <174@piring.cwi.nl jack@cwi.nl (Jack Jansen) writes:
    
    > Ok, I'll come up with something original.  The problem is capitalism.

Well, no, not really.  People own their labor and their time, and within
reason they can use these assets however they wish, whether it's writing
software, growing wheat, or just goofing off.  This is not a 'problem'
but a kind of basic human right.  You might just as well say that the
'problem' is the failure of software to just magically appear from nowhere
without anyone having to do any work.

    People want money back in return for their efforts, and aren't
    satisfied with fame or esteem or whatever else.  Now, that is
    reasonable if you make 'hardware': a knife is a knife even if you
    don't want to share it. But, it doesn't work for ideas. If I write a
    beautiful song, but I don't sing it (or, preferrably, let others sing
    it) in public, I might as well not have written it in the first
    place. It's value is in publication.  The same is true for books,
    philosophies, ideas and (to a certain extent) software.

There is little difference between hardware and software as far as their
reason for existence is concerned.  A knife is simply a tool; there is
not much you can do with it unless you have something you want to slice
up.  Likewise, a word processor does you no good unless you have
something to write.  Your word processor might be so well designed that
it reminds you of a beautiful, harmonious song, but its quality doesn't
alter the fact that it is simply a word processor.  A finely crafted and
perfectly balanced piece of kitchen cutlery is still a knife.

Your conclusion that something's publication is necessary for it to be
valuable is just simply wrong.  A diamond is valuable even before it is
mined; a house can be a warm and stimulating environment even if no one
but the owners ever enter it.  Suppose that I write a very specialized
program and sell it to a few specific businesses whose needs it fits
completely.  Is it then valueless?

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Garth Snyder            UUCP: {seismo!bpa,rutgers!liberty}!swatsun!garth
Swarthmore College      ARPA: garth@boulder.colorado.edu
Swarthmore, PA 19081    ALSO: {hao,nbires}!boulder!garth
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