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South African Minister Locks Horns With Microsoft

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the speaking-truth-to-monoploy dept.

naheiw writes "The South African minister of public service and administration on Monday addressed the opening of the Idlelo 3 free software conference in Dakar, Senegal, saying that software patents posed a considerable threat to the growth of the African software sector (video). Microsoft responded aggressively, saying that 'there is no such thing as free software. Nobody develops software for charity.'"

1 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. Re:freshmeat.net? sourceforge anybody? by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 0, Troll

    luvy duvy stuff aside, software doesn't appear out of thin air, it gets financed somehow. "Free software" simply removes a lot of the direct financial incentive to develop that software, which forces developers to look to other business models.

    It's almost like some people have a 35 year old grudge against bill gates and are forever doomed to reject the idea of monetizing software development.