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Message-ID: <36DC5FF7.A3D63FAF@technologist.com>
Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 23:02:31 +0100
From: Martin Moeller <martin_moeller@technologist.com>
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To: alsa-devel@alsa.jcu.cz
Subject: Re: Trident's contribution, a draft
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Kevin Duffey wrote:
> 
> >       Put it this way: what's the point of winning if you do it by
> >giving in?  What have we won if our Linux systems depend on proprietary,
> >non-free drivers?  We've got NT all over again.  Why bother in the first
> >place?
> 
> Not really. NT costs money. These drivers wouldn't, even if you dont have
> source code. I am all for GPL for some projects..but I am not about to give
> out my source code on a project I have worked on for a year or two so that
> everyone who wants to can recreate the project slightly different and tack
> their name to it. Its quite possible my app isn't the "best" the code could
> have been written, and if someone betters it, I lose. They win. They use my
> original idea/code, add to it, change it, then do something with it
> themselves. Maybe they cant "sell" it, but they could end up with a much
That is rarely the case. If you release the source, you'll be seen as
the coordinator and instigator of the project and patches will be sent
your way. Outcome == Better product.
Also, it generally happens that when the free software community sees
something proprietary it likes it starts it's own attempt from scratch
at bettering it. Bottom line, it's very hard to win with closed source
in the Linux world... Not impossible, but very, very hard...

As for making money, one option is writing a good fat manual you then
print. You can even give it away too -- many people will still buy it
since it's nicer to have in your hands than on-screen. At least for a
few technology breakthroughs yet ;)

If you're code is great, you just might be sucked up by RedHat, SuSE or
some other Linux-centric company because they see a value in what you
contribute and believe they will sell more copies by including it. They
would want it to be all it can be, so you *could* make money developing
your free program. It's not a sure thing, of course, but it's a
possibility....

Just my instant thoughts(L) (hmm, where's that inverted C at?)

Regards,

/Martin Moeller.


