Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 5th Jul 2011 22:12 UTC
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RE[2]: Alternative to patent trolls & economic deadweight loss
by danger_nakamura on Thu 7th Jul 2011 05:35
in reply to "RE: Alternative to patent trolls & economic deadweight loss"
What interest would they have in hiring a programmer when they can get their patches automatically from the vendor and keep on working? The key point here is that business's buy software so they can work.
This may seem nitpicky, but this is a false dichotmy. A business does not require a programmer on payroll to use open source software. Vendor support would take the place of "closed code" in a third possibility. The difference under that scenario is that the business, while still paying a vendor, would not be dependent on that vendor. How does the business lose under this scenario?




Member since:
2005-07-06
This argument shows clearly the delineation between those who DO, and those who talk on the Internet.
""The free software model may soon become the ONLY acceptable model for software from a software security standpoint. Which is smarter: to have a programmer in house who has access to all of your company’s source code and can access and fix any problem instantaneously, or to have to wait for some company like Microsoft or Apple to have to release the security update for you? Better yet, might it not be better to be part of a large community where you all help to protect each other? "
My wife works for a small freight broker. Their business is in the transactions of booking loads on tractor trailors that are currently unloaded to new locations and they take a per cent. What interest would they have in hiring a programmer when they can get their patches automatically from the vendor and keep on working?
The key point here is that business's buy software so they can work. There is nothing wrong with proprietary software.
I'm not even going to mention that the "many eyes make bugs large" argument has been successfully debunked and the reality is that open source has a astronomically higher base of users vs people who review the source code.
Morglum