🚀 go-pugleaf

On Thu, 08 Oct 98 22:49:03 GMT, Phil Hunt <philh@vision25.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <361e6c8e.2858450@news.demon.co.uk>
>           malcolm@pigsty.demon.co.uk "Malcolm McMahon" writes:
>> On 7 Oct 1998 19:20:34 -0700, jbuck@best.com (Joe Buck) wrote:
>> >If somebody writes an amazing algorithm that sorts data faster than
>> >anything else, the GPL won't stop commercial folks from writing their
>> >own implementation.  Only a patent can do that.
>> 
>> And absolutely the last thing we want is software patents.
>
>I agree.
>
>> Whereas the market has problems with software, I must say I've yet to
>> hear an alternative method of funding software development which makes
>> practical sense. The "software tax" is OK on collection but nobody has
>> come up with a convincing idea about how it gets distributed. A prizes
>> comittee?
>
>How about several prize committees?
>
>Everyone who buys a PC gets to choose where 'their' software tax goes.
>It can go to any 'designated free software organisation'. These 
>organisations can either develop the software themselves, or
>can fund other developers. They can have varying policies on 
>copyright: for example, one might prefer GPL, another might prefer
>freeBSD. (But all would be open source).

How about you send $20 apiece to five of the developers involved with
projects that you favor? 

Get a few thousand Linux folk to do this and this actually adds up to a
chunk of change... 

>> If it were done by voting nobody would write anything but games.
>
>Not necessarily. I'd be happy to vote for compilers, word processors,
>spreadsheets, web servers, etc.

Unfortunately, the "voting" approach encourages organizations to produce
"bread and circuses" and (on the software side) "chrome" so as to
attract interest and votes.  It would turn into something remarkably
similar to the present commercial marketing systems... 

-- 
Linux!  Guerrilla UNIX Development     Venimus, Vidimus, Dolavimus.
(By mah@ka4ybr.com, Mark A. Horton KA4YBR)
cbbrowne@ntlug.org- <http//www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/lsf.html>