Sender: mckee AT rtp DOT gtegsc DOT com
Message-ID: <3332977A.3025@rtp.gtegsc.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 09:13:14 -0500
From: David McKee <david DOT mckee AT rtp DOT gtegsc DOT com>
Organization: GTE (My views are my own)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: Orlando Andico <orly AT gibson DOT eee DOT upd DOT edu DOT ph>
CC: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: Req: DOS/DJGPP Quake Makefile
References: <Pine DOT SGI DOT 3 DOT 93 DOT 970321154238 DOT 18387B-100000 AT gibson DOT eee DOT upd DOT edu DOT ph>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Orlando Andico wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 19 Mar 1997, David McKee wrote:
> 
> [...]
> > Finally some sanity about this topic.  As much as I am a fan of free
> > software and don't mind contributing myself, I still have very large
> > disagreements with some of the philosophies of Dr. Stallman and the
> > FSF in general...ie: that there is no such thing as intellectual
> > property.  If I work 18 months on code or 18 months digging a ditch,
> > I ought to get paid for it (if it's something that people want).  If
> > I am willing to do the work for free, then thats fine, but it should
> > be the choice of the person who did the work.
> [...]
> 
> There is NOTHING in the GPL that says you can't make money off GPL'ed
> software. Note that Cygnus, Red Hat, Caldera, and others are making a
> comfortable living selling mostly-GPL software.
> 
> I respect your opinion, but I am a programmer myself (well, things may
> change when I get out of school and get a job..) but I agree with RMS.
> Have you heard/read his "infinite sandwich" parable? My personal stand is,
> I've benefitted far more from free software (i.e. DJGPP, Linux, Khoros..)
> than I can ever give back even if I write free software for the rest of my
> life..
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Orlando Andico                               IRC Lab/EE Dept/UP Diliman
> email: orly AT gibson DOT eee DOT upd DOT edu DOT ph          http://gibson.eee.upd.edu.ph

Yes I have read most of the GNU manifestos/philosophies/etc.  I really
don't
see where we disagree, I too am very grateful for the free software
don't
get me wrong!  But...I gotta eat, I got house payments, the whole 9
yards.
When I am writing software I am working.  If I can convince someone to 
pay me for this work, you bet I am going to.  The difference between a
sandwich
and a program is the media of which it is constructed.  Given sufficient
technology snadwiches can be reproduced with the same ease as software
now
is (see "Engines of Creation" by K. Eric Drexler about molecular
machines).

I just think that both options should be (and thankfully are) open.  And 
while many would bemoan that people like Bill Gates (for example) make
too 
much $$$ on "intellectual property", no one forced people to buy his 
software...

-- David T. McKee: 
-- Think: Innovative Science Learning Systems
--                 Physics, Electrical Science, Computer
--                 Science, Natural Science, Theology
======================Signature Block====================
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; To search out
a matter is the glory of kings.  Pr 25:2
---------------------------------------------------------
There is nothing so sacred as it cannot be looked into...
=========================================================