This from Josh Allen's beautifuly titled blog Better Living Through Software.
Josh is right here as he usually is and I'm not just saying that cause he works for MS. This was the one point of Lessig's speech that I didn't like. To Lessig, everything is public domain everything I write and think belongs to the world because I'm part of it. This is not as true as he'd like to think. Lessig likens software to literature, after all it is just written code right? This view makes it seem that the code should be all open for anyone to read and copy as they see fit because it's public domain. But this is where I see things a little different, code is more like a recipie, if I look at a Little Debbie snack it's not going to tell me how to make it. There may be a list of ingrediants that if I spent years working with I might be able to find the right combination but it doesn't say 2 cups flour and 1 tbs sugar. That's because it's not the ingrediants that make a dish it's how they're used. Software is the same way. Yes the code is a written language much like a book but it's not so much the words that are important but how they're arranged to (and here's the important part) create something new and make it work. Just like I don't expect Betty Crocker to give me the recipe to her amazing brownies or Boeing to give me the schematics and detailed instructions to build a 747, I don't expect a company to tell me how to build their software. By all means a company can feel free to share this information in hopes that someone will improve it and give them credit but this is not "the way it should be for all". If I spend years of my life working on a piece of software I expect to be compensated for those years by EVERYONE who uses it. They are getting the benifit of my time and knowledge. What's more is that what they pay isn't really what it's worth. No matter how much money they have they couldn't write an OS or a media player. They need me to do that and I charge an individual a small sum. I may end up rich because millions of people use my product but the users still come out on top.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Microsoft releases Windows. Now Bill Gates will make a lot of money on this but who else will? The thousands to millions of people who write software that works on Windows, the thousands who write about it proffesionaly, the thousands who train users, the companies who save money by using the product's time saving abilities, etc. Yes Bill Gates makes A LOT of money but he makes everyone else more. Why should he make little to no money so that everyone else can make it all off of his idea by open his source so that anyone can compile Windows and sell it?
Ok that rant got a little long and disjointed I might have to edit it later or turn it into a longer piece. If you want a longer piece email me or leave a comment.
4:05:45 PM 
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