You are viewing an obsolete version of the DU website which is no longer supported by the Administrators. Visit The New DU.
Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Reply #1: Contrary to popular opinion [View All]

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion: Presidential (Through Nov 2009) Donate to DU
nichomachus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-21-09 05:18 PM
Response to Original message
1. Contrary to popular opinion
open-source software isn't really free. You are expected to do one of two things:

1. Pay for it to support the efforts of those who develop it; or

2. Do some development and improvement on your own and contribute it back to the effort.

Granted, you can grab it and use it for free, but if enough people do that, it will destroy the model. If government did it, then it would be complicit in taking down the open-source software movement. Anyway, it kinds of flies in the face of Obama's "responsibility" call.

The notion that large enterprises can just grab software and use it without giving anything in return is a common misconception.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion: Presidential (Through Nov 2009) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC