Open Source Limitations?

_aargh writes "This ZDNet article by John Carroll makes the claim that open source is flawed because there isn't a way for programmers to earn money by developing open source software. It annoyed me so much that I wrote this response to it on the O'Reilly Network."

Comments

Re:I Always Wondered....

[gargle]

if an open source programmer toils day and night "for fun", is it fair that someone takes all that work and sells it as if it were his own...like any Linux distro?

No it isn't. The biggest winners from open source are companies like IBM, redhat and others - which company wouldn't want free labour?

The biggest losers are the free software developers, who have been brainwashed into thinking that developing software for free is "fun", and that they have a moral obligation to make software available for free to companies.

Of course, there are a precious few for whom the gains in prestige (i.e Linus Torvalds) make developing free software worthwhile.

But get it straight. For most, Microsoft is your friend, Redhat is your enemy.

Re:I think he's right in a way

[gd23ka]

It's not that government employees can't possibly get a job anywhere else, but because they have neither the skills, nor the tenacity to compete in a normal workplace, in other words: some light work, yes thank you, but don't pressure me with any deadlines, please.

You always get what you pay for.

Re:I think he's right in a way

[meta-monkey]

Schools have gotten significantly worse since the inception of the US Department of Education in the 1960s. Before that, public schools were run independently by local and state governments. Now, instead, Washington pulls all the strings, heaping ridiculous requirement upon requirement on schools every year. Instead of teaching the three R's, schools today are simply government indoctrination centers. It doesn't matter how much you learn, all that matters is how you FEEL about yourself. Please. Why do you think so many people are home schooling their kids or sending them to private schools?

As for schools being underfunded, I believe that US schools spend more per student than any other school system in the world, except for one other...I think sweden...and perform among the worst in Western nations. Public schools spend more per pupil than the cost of sending a student to private school, and yet, private schools way outperform public schools, regardless of the socio-economic status of the student. The problem is not money, the problem is motiviation. Like I said, public schools don't teach kids how to read and write anymore, they teach them how to feel good about themselves and worry about global warming. Funding keeps going up...test scores keep going down. Tell me, if you could write a blank check to schools in the US, what would the amount be? Do you really think it would make any difference?

As for the FBI, haven't you been paying attention the past few weeks? Officials in the FBI were so worried about their careers and afraid of being accused of racial profiling that they refused to investigate Zacharius Moussaui (sp?), the "20th hijacker." For example, the field agents requested a search warrant for his computer, based on intel from the French that this same man had been involved in a plot last year to fly a plane into the Eiffel Tower. The FBI Washington office went so far as to LIE and say there were too many Zacharius Moussauis in Paris to conclude this was the same one, when the Paris phone books listed only ONE (the same one they cought in Minnesota). Your government in action...substance doesn't matter. Stopping terrorists doesn't matter. All that matters is that you don't look like you're a racist. Symbol over substance again and again.

Arming the populace to the teeth is a great idea. No, I don't think the people in the WTC would have had much use of guns, but the people on the planes might. Tell me, if everybody on those airliners had guns, do you think the terrorists would have had a chance? I think not.

Sorry, your arguments are futile. Nearly everything the government tries to improve gets worse. Since the 1960's, when LBJ's Great Society started, government has tried to perfect schools, eliminate poverty and crime, and so on. What do we have instead? Worse test scores and a generally less educated populace (generally...more people are getting college degrees yes, but those degrees are worth less, as are high school diplomas) than every before, stagnate poverty rates, the destruction of the black family, higher crime rates, and so on. How do you feel about the great job the DEA has done of winning the "War on Drugs?" If Microsoft really wants to stop Linux, they should lobby for a US Department of Open Source Software Development.

Re:Getting paid

[mvdwege]

If I may recast your excellent post in different words:

Programmers will be paid for their skill, not for their end product.

Does that cut to the heart of the matter? It is basically my view on this (pointless) discussion, and I thought you articulated it much better than I could.

Mart