On Fri, 30 Jul 1999, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> The important question is the return to Microsoft programmers
> especially if paid in common stock or options. Just because the
> market is willing to pay for software doesn't convey some sort
> of evil. The open software movement is very nice but no success
> by comparison.
>
> I can't believe, by the way, that open software programmers
> live on air.
I think much open software results from a scenario not dissimilar to one that I experienced.
We needed a particular program for our law office's internal use (most software is written for internal use)
We had someone on our staff (a student) write it.
We put it out as open source because:
(1) The programmer wrote better code knowing that it would be a public
display of his skill thus involving his pride
(2) We hope that others will improve the code and we will have access
to the improvements.
(3) It cost us nothing to do so and may have a small public relations
value.
When I look at open source code (http://www.freshemeat.net/ shows one summary of open code released each day), I think much of it follows a somewhat similar process.
Regards,
John Lederer
Oregon, Wisconsin
<johnl[_at_]ibm.net>
Received on Sat Jul 31 1999 - 14:51:30 GMT
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