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From: howard@cpocd2.UUCP (Howard A. Landman)
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: <1075@cpocd2.UUCP>
Date: 26 Jan 88 19:45:25 GMT
References: <8055@g.ms.uky.edu> <174@piring.cwi.nl> <39450@sun.uucp>
Reply-To: howard@cpocd2.UUCP (Howard A. Landman)
Organization: Intel Corp. ASIC Systems Organization, Chandler AZ
Lines: 29
Keywords: technology changes things

In article <39450@sun.uucp> fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) writes:
>Software is not an idea any more than a knife.

Really?  Try making a backup copy of your knife, or sending it over a phone
line.  INFORMATION AND MATTER OBEY DIFFERENT PHYSICAL LAWS.

We are a long way from having legislation which deals realistically with
the nature of information, and still allows its creators to earn a living.
Pretending bits and atoms are the same is not going to help.

>The GNU people (particularly Mr. Stallman) might not continue with
>their idealistic ways if they had no other source of income beside
>the software that they're working on.  (Who's paying their bills?)
>Is TANSTAAFL false?  (Seems to work most everywhere else, except
>in politics.)

My understanding was that the FSF makes most of its money from SUPPORT
for the otherwise free software.  There are quite a few companies who
think this a reasonable deal.  Also, FSF sells EMACS manuals and such.

Obviuosly, companies which don't bother to support their products can't
make any money this way - they would much rather stick the customers with
the software and forget about them.

-- 
	Howard A. Landman
	{oliveb,hplabs}!intelca!mipos3!cpocd2!howard
	howard%cpocd2.intel.com@RELAY.CS.NET
	One hand clapping sounds a lot like two hands clapping, only quieter.