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www/philosophy free-world-notes.html
|
From: |
Yavor Doganov |
|
Subject: |
www/philosophy free-world-notes.html |
|
Date: |
Sat, 14 Apr 2007 23:07:18 +0000 |
CVSROOT: /web/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Yavor Doganov <yavor> 07/04/14 23:07:18
Modified files:
philosophy : free-world-notes.html
Log message:
Templated.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/free-world-notes.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.2&r2=1.3
Patches:
Index: free-world-notes.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/free-world-notes.html,v
retrieving revision 1.2
retrieving revision 1.3
diff -u -b -r1.2 -r1.3
--- free-world-notes.html 7 Feb 2007 02:35:32 -0000 1.2
+++ free-world-notes.html 14 Apr 2007 23:07:03 -0000 1.3
@@ -1,25 +1,22 @@
-<html>
-<head>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
<title>Free World Notes</title>
-</head>
-<body background="moss.gif">
-This file contains supplemental notes to the manifesto "Only the Free
-World Can Stand Up to Microsoft", currently published at:
-<p><ul>
-<li><a href="free-world.html">
-http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-world.html</a>
-</ul>
-<p>
-The latest version of this file is at:
-<p><ul>
-<li><a href="free-world-notes.html">
-http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-world-notes.html</a>
-</ul>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>Free World Notes</h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>This file contains supplemental notes to the manifesto “Only
+the Free World Can Stand Up to Microsoft”, currently published
+at <a href="/philosophy/free-world.html">
+http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-world.html</a>.</p>
+</blockquote>
+
<p>
-You may write the author, Tom Hull,
-at ftwalk @ contex.com. Hull is also
-the author of the Ftwalk programming language, a script programming
-language which is free software available for Unix systems.
+You may write the author, Tom
+Hull <a href="mailto:address@hidden";><address@hidden></a>. Hull is
+also the author of the Ftwalk programming language, a script
+programming language which is free software available for Unix
+systems.</p>
+
<p>
In general, this critique reflects a more general line of thought,
which is based on the recognition that the inefficiencies and ulterior
@@ -31,10 +28,12 @@
property; it requires no political action (not even the application of
antitrust law); it can be initiated by a small group of people, and to
some extent simply builds on work already done by various individuals
-and groups.
+and groups.</p>
+
<p>
-Some paragraph notes:
-<p><ol>
+Some paragraph notes:</p>
+
+<ol>
<li>Commercial software companies typically divide their costs into
several sectors: development; manufacturing; marketing/sales;
service; general and administrative. Development costs are usually
@@ -42,26 +41,26 @@
sales, so most of what the customer is actually paying for is the
persuasion to convince the customer to pay so much for something
that costs so little to develop, and practically nothing to
-reproduce and deliver.
-<p>
+reproduce and deliver.</li>
+
<li>More expensive software often includes after-the-sale service,
which should be considered a marketing/sales cost, since it props
up an extravagant price structure. Service should be considered a
separate cost, independent of development. Free software is always
delivered with no service, and customers who need service can
obtain help independently, since the inner workings of the software
-are public knowledge.
-<p>
+are public knowledge.</li>
+
<li>Media companies have comparable cash flows, but necessarily work
within the technical standards of their media. Consuming their
products does not in any way prevent or even disincline one from
-consuming competitive products.
-<p>
+consuming competitive products.</li>
+
<li>Microsoft likes to expand its operating system to eliminate the
market for add-on software, such as for disk compression and
networking. Microsoft's claim that IE is part of the operating
-system is spectacularly spurious.
-<p>
+system is spectacularly spurious.</li>
+
<li>Microsoft's dominance is at least partly due to the lack of any
significant challengers. Apple and IBM used their operating systems
to lock customers into their hardware, and would at any rate have
@@ -70,21 +69,21 @@
steadfastly to higher priced markets, avoiding direct competition,
even though NT is aimed directly at destroying Unix. The longer
Microsoft goes without serious competition, the harder it gets to
-mount any such competition.
-<p>
+mount any such competition.</li>
+
<li>The last sentence is a slight exaggeration. Many capitalists do in
fact realize that they will never be in the position to wield the
sort of power that Microsoft commands, and as such have no use for
-the megalomania that goes with such power.
-<p>
+the megalomania that goes with such power.</li>
+
<li>The main point, however, is that under current circumstances no
sane investor will directly challenge Microsoft. The cases in
other industries where challenges are made to dominant companies
depend on the discovery of some significant cost advantage (e.g.,
-MCI's challenge to AT&T), but cost advantages are essentially
+MCI's challenge to AT&T), but cost advantages are essentially
impossible in software, unless you're willing to forego all your
-margin, a position no investor will take.
-<p>
+margin, a position no investor will take.</li>
+
<li>Antitrust laws work more for the protection of other businesses
than to protect consumer interests, although consumers generally
do benefit from increased, more even handed competition, at least
@@ -92,15 +91,15 @@
crippling price competition. Netscape, for example, having gained
a dominant market share in its niche, still cannot raise its prices
because of Microsoft's competition, which is a windfall of sorts
-for customers.
-<p>
-<li>We talk much about the advantages of "letting the market decide,"
-but most business activity is oriented toward rigging the market.
-Look at any business plan and the key section will be something
-like "Barriers to Competition," because competition kills profits,
-and successful companies are the ones that avoid competition, or at
-least are able to dictate its terms.
-<p>
+for customers.</li>
+
+<li>We talk much about the advantages of “letting the market
+decide,” but most business activity is oriented toward rigging
+the market. Look at any business plan and the key section will be
+something like “Barriers to Competition,” because
+competition kills profits, and successful companies are the ones that
+avoid competition, or at least are able to dictate its terms.</li>
+
<li>The key thing here is that the free software must have at least the
same level of quality and utility as the commercial software that
it challenges, which means that it must be professionally designed
@@ -124,7 +123,8 @@
that it takes to learn and use, so no software is really cost-free;
the investment that users and companies have in commercial software
can make switching painful; many people still regard commercial
-software as something of a bargain.
+software as something of a bargain.</p>
+
<p>
One issue that needs to be recognized and understood is the notion
that free software, openly published in source form and freely
@@ -134,12 +134,13 @@
Explorer to be a very scary experience: the computer running
totally out of my control, recongifuring itself, plugging into
Microsoft's own web sites, setting up preferences and defaults
-according to Microsoft's business machinations.
+according to Microsoft's business machinations.</p>
+
<p>
Sometimes I wonder whether Microsoft's underlying goal isn't simply
to make the world safe for computer viruses. I'm not an especially
-paranoid person, but how can you ever know?
-<p>
+paranoid person, but how can you ever know?</p></li>
+
<li>Consumers nowadays are so often (and so effectively) fleeced that
there is much resistance to paying for something you can get away
with not paying for, so this will be an uphill educational battle.
@@ -156,26 +157,27 @@
form of tribute to the rich. These approaches require political
efforts that are sure to be contested and hamstrung. I'm inclined
to start small, start voluntarily, and see how far reason and
-civility takes us.
+civility takes us.</p>
<p>
It should also be emphasized that there is at present a substantial
amount of free software already written and available, and that
there are many organizations and individuals that have contributed
to the development and dissemination and support of free software.
What is missing is a systematic approach to funding development,
-and a strong and consistent system for user feedback and direction.
-<p>
+and a strong and consistent system for user feedback and
+direction.</p></li>
+
<li>I would estimate that free software can be developed to quality
standards that meet/exceed commercial software for less than 25% of
the price of equivalent commercial software. This estimate is based
-on common R&D expenditure levels plus a generous amount for those
+on common R&D expenditure levels plus a generous amount for those
organizations which coordinate development and promote use. Given
that free software is not compelled to become obsolescent (it can
continue to be used as long as it is useful, whereas commercial
software must obsolete old product to promote the sales of new),
the costs for free software will decline over time, sharply except
-for the cases where new needs arise.
-<p>
+for the cases where new needs arise.</li>
+
<li>Much of this work is already being done. What's missing is not so
much the people or even the organization as a coherent sense of the
economic imperatives. To date, free software has largely been
@@ -196,19 +198,19 @@
an organization never directly used free software, its existence
would provide a damper on prices and a strong bargaining point with
commercial software vendors. It is a win/win bet: free software,
-cheaper software, more options, more competition.
+cheaper software, more options, more competition.</p>
<p>
It is completely obvious that free software organizations must be
international in scope. It seems likely that most of the support
for free software will come from outside the US, perhaps by an
-overwhelming margin.
+overwhelming margin.</p>
<p>
This proposal does not dispute the rights of intellectual property
owners. Under this proposal it should be possible to buy or license
technology where appropriate, and inventors should consider the
possibility of selling their inventions to the free world. Whether
intellectual property rights in fact encourage innovation in any
-useful way can be debated separately.
+useful way can be debated separately.</p>
<p>
Another aspect of this proposal is that it does not try to kill off
the profit motive in software development. As I envision it, most
@@ -219,23 +221,23 @@
main advantage big software companies have over small ones. Also
because the free software networking organizations should work for
providing sharable resources, such as capital and services, saving
-small companies from having to overextend themselves.)
+small companies from having to overextend themselves.)</p>
<p>
-My proposal is that free software will start out aiming to produce
-the most basic and most broadly used software: it will in effect
-harvest the "cash cows" of the commercial software industry, rather
-than attempt to innovate at the fringes of development. (Of course,
-innovators are more than welcome to contribute.) Beyond free
-software there will still be shareware and commercial products,
-which will to some extent compete with free software and to a
-larger extent open up new niches where free software is not yet
-available. The free software industry will provide a damper on the
-sort of prices that can be charged. It will also help lower the
-costs of all software development, and may eventually provide a
-salvage market for discontinued commercial software. Shareware may
-be a fruitful ground for speculative software development, with the
-goal being to develop and popularize a new product that can be sold
-off to the free market.
+My proposal is that free software will start out aiming to produce the
+most basic and most broadly used software: it will in effect harvest
+the “cash cows” of the commercial software industry,
+rather than attempt to innovate at the fringes of development. (Of
+course, innovators are more than welcome to contribute.) Beyond free
+software there will still be shareware and commercial products, which
+will to some extent compete with free software and to a larger extent
+open up new niches where free software is not yet available. The free
+software industry will provide a damper on the sort of prices that can
+be charged. It will also help lower the costs of all software
+development, and may eventually provide a salvage market for
+discontinued commercial software. Shareware may be a fruitful ground
+for speculative software development, with the goal being to develop
+and popularize a new product that can be sold off to the free
+market.</p>
<p>
Finally, I believe that no restrictions should be placed on the use
of free software: that it can be repackaged, sold, incorporated
@@ -249,11 +251,67 @@
commerce, which no one can truly flee from, regardless of how
offensive it may seem. The proposal here is to start to take short,
deliberate, sensible steps toward reclaiming parts of that jungle
-for everyone's use and betterment.
-<p>
+for everyone's use and betterment.</p></li>
+
<li>This implies, of course, that (following the Reagan demonology)
-Microsoft et al. are "The Evil Empire." That's a joke, of course,
-but if it didn't harbor a shred of truth it wouldn't be funny.
+Microsoft et al. are “The Evil Empire.” That's a joke, of
+course, but if it didn't harbor a shred of truth it wouldn't be
+funny.</li>
</ol>
+
+</div>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+
+<p>
+Please send questions and comments regarding this specific page to Tom
+Hull <a href="mailto:address@hidden";><address@hidden></a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Please send FSF & GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Please see the
+<a href="/server/standards/README.translations">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting
+translations of this article.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2007/04/14 23:07:03 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div id="translations">
+<h4>Translations of this page</h4>
+
+<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical. -->
+<!-- Comment what the language is for each type, i.e. de is Deutsch.-->
+<!-- If you add a new language here, please -->
+<!-- advise address@hidden and add it to -->
+<!-- - /home/www/bin/nightly-vars either TAGSLANG or WEBLANG -->
+<!-- - /home/www/html/server/standards/README.translations.html -->
+<!-- - one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway" -->
+<!-- - if there is a translation team, you also have to add an alias -->
+<!-- to mail.gnu.org:/com/mailer/aliases -->
+<!-- Please also check you have the 2 letter language code right versus -->
+<!-- <URL:http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm> -->
+<!-- Please use W3C normative character entities -->
+
+<ul class="translations-list">
+<!-- English -->
+<li><a href="/philosophy/free-world-notes.html">English</a> [en]</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+</div>
</body>
</html>
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