You don't sell the same software you give away. You give away reliable, useful software tailored for specific and narrow uses. You sell other software that has broader applications and a lot more features, and a host of other software that may not even be related to the original software you gave away. Think of a company like Old Navy giving away free t-shirts with their logos one day. People are NOT going to say, "Well, now I have a t-shirt I need never go there again!" People will come back because they now know the company's name, see that they make pretty keen t-shirts, and want to see what else they have to offer--which is a great deal more than the one t-shirt that they gave away.
Creating free and open source software for scientists and human rights workers would be an excellent move for any company.
Though I have never heard of any scientific results being questioned because the source of the software used to calculate them is closed to scrutiny, the concept of supporting results by noting the program used (so that the source can be examined, if desired) means that the company automatically gets a degree of 'free' advertising. It wouldn't be quite as blatant as "These results were brought to you by Micro$oft," but it would get the company name out there. Make some reliable, free, open source software to donate to organizations, and sell the other products when richer organizations seek you out with money to spend.
In addition, the company gets karma points for helping in humanitarian and scientific causes. 'If you oppose killing babies in such-and-such country, use XXXXX's software!' 'Want to save the rainforest? Help support the cause by buying XXXXX's software.' This may not be the 'ideal' motivation for donating to these organizations, but capitalism does drive charity in a lot of cases.
Free software is not by any means a right (nor did I get the impression that the article claims this), but it could improve the lot of humanity as well as bringing benefits to the company who develops it.
It's not hard to envision the next step of purchase monitoring--you routinely buy too much junk food (the lifestuff of computer geeks) at the grocery store, and your health insurance rates go up because of your risk for obesity. Does anyone really think those little supermarket 'savings' cards are for your benefit?
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>>Whatever company makes vending machines. I swear, I've lost so much to those things...
And now they emit deadly gasses!
You don't sell the same software you give away. You give away reliable, useful software tailored for specific and narrow uses. You sell other software that has broader applications and a lot more features, and a host of other software that may not even be related to the original software you gave away. Think of a company like Old Navy giving away free t-shirts with their logos one day. People are NOT going to say, "Well, now I have a t-shirt I need never go there again!" People will come back because they now know the company's name, see that they make pretty keen t-shirts, and want to see what else they have to offer--which is a great deal more than the one t-shirt that they gave away.
Creating free and open source software for scientists and human rights workers would be an excellent move for any company.
Though I have never heard of any scientific results being questioned because the source of the software used to calculate them is closed to scrutiny, the concept of supporting results by noting the program used (so that the source can be examined, if desired) means that the company automatically gets a degree of 'free' advertising. It wouldn't be quite as blatant as "These results were brought to you by Micro$oft," but it would get the company name out there. Make some reliable, free, open source software to donate to organizations, and sell the other products when richer organizations seek you out with money to spend.
In addition, the company gets karma points for helping in humanitarian and scientific causes. 'If you oppose killing babies in such-and-such country, use XXXXX's software!' 'Want to save the rainforest? Help support the cause by buying XXXXX's software.' This may not be the 'ideal' motivation for donating to these organizations, but capitalism does drive charity in a lot of cases.
Free software is not by any means a right (nor did I get the impression that the article claims this), but it could improve the lot of humanity as well as bringing benefits to the company who develops it.
-KD
It's not hard to envision the next step of purchase monitoring--you routinely buy too much junk food (the lifestuff of computer geeks) at the grocery store, and your health insurance rates go up because of your risk for obesity. Does anyone really think those little supermarket 'savings' cards are for your benefit?