Yes, unfortunately corporations aren't what they used to be. The concept is about serving the public good but nowadays "the public good" seems to have been redefined to "the shareholders' dividend", consequences be damned.
Yea, there needs to be a renewed effort to revoke corporate charters.
Just because your technological solution isn't as high tech as mine doesn't diminish the problem.
It sounds like you believe high tech will solve all problems, when high tech creates it's own.
The way I read your response was "I didn't even need a computer so you can't complain that your favorite Office equivalent isn't quite as equivalent as you thought."
Sorry that doesn't work. My major was Computer Engineering. I started using, an programming, computers before they became personal. My first ones were the Trash 80, er TRS-80, the original Apple, and an IMB 360 mainframe. It was because I loved programming, playing with, them that I decided to major in CE.
This is the first time in quite a few years that I've heard someone mention the (defunct) Amazon Auctions service as if it were active.
Not having heard Amazon's auction was defunct I googled it and found this "Amazon vs. eBay: Battle of the Online Auctions" from 31 January 2008. It was the third result out of more than 3 million. Restricting the search to just the past month still results in about 137,000. E-Commerce News published the article "Online Auctions, Part 1: The eBay Earthquake" on 9 September. In it there's this: "By restructuring its fees, eBay is likely attempting to ratchet up its competitiveness with Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) Latest News about Amazon.com, which has no listing fees." So they didn't know Amazon went defunct either. Also in the ad area to the right there's an ad for Amazon Auctions, now why would Amazon be buying add for a service that doesn't exist anymore?
On the other hand, I don't see auctions listed on Amazon, so maybe it's only been recently that Amazon stopped auctioning. What I find ironic if true is that the first result searching Amazon for auction is "How to Sell Anything on Amazon...and Make a Fortune!".
Can you sell to the same market? Unless Ebay is listing those auctions, then no, you can't.
There are services and software that allows people to monitor auctions on different websites. However like eBay other auction sites don't allow people to bid or sell on items from other online auction websites. That doesn't make them all monopolies.
You imagine people will keep working on software out of altruistic desire forever? Many people I know are in this profession solely for the high salaries. Once OSS peanut-salary is the norm, they will dump this profession like a cheap rental suit.
Capitalism at work. People can go try to find a job that pays more, then when they leave programming employers will be willing to pay more.
Free software, free music, free movies, free everything! This is turning into a planet full of self-righteous leeches.
It certainly seems that way. However perhaps businesses that try to make money from these need to come up with a new business plan. With iTunes Apple showed the RIAA that given an easy way to pay for music cheaply people will buy songs. Sure people still infringe on copyrights but not as many.
If Wall Street gets that money then Washington should get a cut of the action. I'm not sure how it can be dealt with though, not all businesses financial or otherwise used questionable practices but if the ones that did are bailed out then it sends the message that government will take care of you even if you do bad things.
I'd had CNN on almost all day and I kept hearing about how McCain has criticized Obama for not releasing a plan to deal with the financial crisis but to me McCain is reacting too fast. We don't need to treat the symptoms but not do anything about the cause, and I don't think more regulations is the solution. Better ones perhaps but not more. So I'll wait for Obama's plan. Not that I support either one, I don't.
if it were up to me, I'd have imposed a "Bailout Tax" or levy on all companies in the financial industry during the good times. The money goes to a Bailout Fund.
It sounds like that is what's needed now.
The other industries seem to manage themselves better and not have to run to "Mama" every decade. So as long as they haven't grown up, they need extra rules.
I'm not sure there's an industry that has grown up, except some illegal ones.
During the good times, they get all the money, and during the bad times the taxpayers have to pay? Yes there are already corporate taxes, but do they really cover the bailouts?
Businesses don't get all the money, like during the '90s most people's lives in the US improved. As for bailouts, I don't particularly like them, just as individuals should businesses should plan for bad tymes. Actually I'd prefer to help individuals than businesses. Unfortunately in tymes like now things, people and businesses, are so interdependent to be effective with trying to help people you basically have to bailout businesses too.
Most people run the OS that came with their unit. I'd hardly look at upgrade numbers to gauge much of anything.
Those Dells come with either XP or Vista, and some come with both. I don't look at version number much myself. The last Windows I was enthusiastic about was NT4, which was the only version of Windows I didn't have trouble with. I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro I got about 13 months ago. It came with 10.4, Tiger, and though I got Leopard later I haven't installed it yet. I might but don't know if I will. Leopard doesn't add anything I care about much right now. On the other hand I might order a new one, which will come with Leopard, in the coming months. This one's graphics is 1680 X 1020 and I want to get one with 1920 X 1200 resolution. I want to start a photography business so I want the higher resolution.
I haven't looked to see what OS the laptops I see are running but I've been seeing more and more MacBook/ MacBook Pros (which is growing in market share),
Yes it is growing and that's good for the industry as a whole. But even so Vista is still easily outselling OSX at 5 to 1, and probably more like 8 to 1.
While PC sales are a mixed bag Mac sales are setting new records. According to one poll 34% of respondents plan to buy Mac laptops and 30% desktops. Now I don't know the poll methodology, which probably effects the outcome. However even though consumer spending is down people say they are more likely to buy a Mac.
the glowing apple is easy to spot but I know of no way to tell what version of Windows is running without looking at the OS.
You can't tell what version of OSX they are running either without looking at the OS. You'd be suprised how many are still running 10.4 or earlier.
Perhaps I went about it wrong but one point I wanted to get across is that I've been seeing more people with Mac laptops than I used to see.
As for Vista, its really not -that- hard. A glace at the taskbar will give you a pretty good idea in most cases.
I try not to look at other people's screens, Mac or Windows. Heck for all I know some may be running Linux, whether on a Mac or PC. Actually before I got my Mac I was thinking of installing Ubuntu up it to dual boot. But not seeing a good reason I decided not to.
finding programmers for open source positions is the problem.. and the reason why its so hard to find them is because open source programming jobs are so much more demanding. How demanding? About as difficult as getting commit access to one of the major free software projects (as that is what is typically involved). There's no "kids gloves" for new developers, you've got to get up to speed very quickly.
I've heard, I don't work as a programmer so take it with a grain of salt, that the best way to get a position on a FOOS project is to look at a project's bugs then come up with fixes and submit them. If I were just starting out in programming and college I'd look for projects I was interested in that were active and do that.
i never understood the whole free software thing. trust me i love it, (firefox, filezilla, xbmc, pidgin, etc...) but i don't get it.
let me explain. software developers are smart people. they have a talent, a skill, and in this world people with talents and skills get paid for them.
name me one other industry where talented people give away work for free. i dont see accountants lining up to do your taxes for free, doctors ready to treat you for free and professors willing to teach you for free. unfortunately that's not how this world works, but developers don't seem to care.
Businesses pay employees to work on some of these open source projects. And while many accountants may not do taxes returns free some do something financial for free. My sister, who's a Certified Public Accountant, has taught free classes and seminars. For instance she's taught parents how they can get financial aide for their college bound kids.
i understand all the benefits of sharing source code and innovating and improving with others around the globe. it's truly amazing. case closed. but from the whole business perspective it doesn't make sense.
Sure it does make sense. Businesses employ and pay people to work on these projects then they turn around and sell services. Take for instance IBM, IBM is transitioning from a hardware to a services company. Need a computer system, IBM can come in and evaluate, analysis, your business needs then build the system. Redhat doesn't make money selling Linux, they give it away, instead they makes money selling service and support. The same with many other Linux distros.
its almost counter productive if you think about it... go to your software development job, work on a product, then go home and work on a free open source product in your spare time and give it away for free...
Working on your own projects at home can increase your skills and with increased skills your employer may pay you more. Or another employer may see your work and make an employment offer itself. One thing I've heard more and more employers are doing is googling prospective employees to see what type of projects they worked on and to get an idea of the quality of their work.
In fact, the problem isn't finding jobs, the problem is finding programmers.
You shouldn't say that. MS and other businesses will use that as justification to request more H1-b visas. There isn't a shortage of programmers, the shortage is in the number of programmers willing to work for what these businesses are willing to pay.
the most successful firms are the ones that have embraced open source tools and techniques to build their own unique product.
Microsoft is a sore exception, and would probably be doing much better if they weren't so anti-open source.
Microsoft has used open source stuff. MS's Windows Sockets API or Winsock was based on Berkeley sockets API. that's only one example but I'm pretty sure others can point to more open source stuff MS has used.
it's capitalism - as long as iot's within the bounds of the law it's all about competition and squeezing your competitors out
That's not what capitalism is about, capitalism encourages competition. What you're proposing, monopolies, is what what Adam Smith the Father of capitalism was opposed to. He didn't even like patents calling them a necessary evil. To Adams capitalism provided a fair or equitable and optimum outcome for everyone.
In other areas it seems like the intersection between programmers and users are very low, like say video editors. If you've tried any of the OSS editors and compared them to commercial ones, you know what I mean.
Have you tried CinePaint aka Film GIMP? Movie makers like Dreamworks uses it, along with Linux.
All in all, I don't think closed source companies will disappear for a very long time even if Windows/Office were to disappear (and that's a looooooong way to go there too).
There's no good reason for closed source software to disappear. I'd like to see more open source but wouldn't make all software open. Instead I'd let a freemarket encourage competition, as well as cooperation.
MS lost both marketshare and mindshare with Vista. Everyone, from the kid down the street to the sysadmin to the 50 year old knows that Vista sucks. There is no denying it.
Really? In my experience the number of laptops I've seen where the user is running Vista seems to be growing.
If Vista is so popular then why do OEMs still install or offer XP? And why has MS extended service and support for XP? For instance Dell is still selling PCs preloaded with XP. Of those laptops you see with Vista I wonder how many came with it preinstalled vs how many installed Vista on the laptop. I haven't looked to see what OS the laptops I see are running but I've been seeing more and more MacBook/ MacBook Pros (which is growing in market share), the glowing apple is easy to spot but I know of no way to tell what version of Windows is running without looking at the OS.
I used open source in school along with proprietary software.
Evolution doesn't let you create appointments that follow your class schedule. For example, I have a class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Outlook let's you check the appropriate boxes for recurrences but Evolution only lets you do one day a week, so you have to create 3 weekly appointments just for one class.
When I was in school, I didn't need any computer to keep track of my classes. Instead I used a paper planner. All I needed to use it was a pen or pencil though I did use coloured highlighters to colour code the different classes. When I was in therapy after an accident the therapists had us do the same thing, keep a paper based calendar or planner to write all the different therapy sessions and exercises.
I used to like Office because it was familiar, now I like it because it quickly and easily does what I want.
I used to use Office but now I/ve saved money since I've been using NeoOffice.
Whenever you pay more than the distribution cost for a piece of software, it is overpriced. Zeros and ones does not cost anything to produce, more than the duplication and transfer cost.
My MBA Program talks rather fondly of Open Source Software, for the most part. They just make you analysis the benefits in a business perspective, and try to decide when an Open Source product is worth it, or getting a closed source app may be a better overall value.
That's what everybody should do. First an analysis of the needs, what is required, should be done. Take the requirements to evaluate software then use that to decide what hardware and OS will run the chosen software. Sometimes a closed source proprietary solution is needed while other tymes FOOS can be used. Or they can be mixed and matched. For instance I'd like to start a photography business, shooting photos as well as creating online photography websites. So I can take my computer with me I have a MacBook Pro laptop. My desktop unit, a tower really, is a generic PC with Linux. I can use it as a server. For photo editing I have CinePaint, which lies between GIMP and Photoshop in capability, and it runs on both Linux and OS X as well as Windows. I'm hoping it will do everything I'll want to do, but if not I may spring for Photoshop. For editing code just about any text editor will work and there's plenty of those for every OS.
Growth is the sole raison d' être for a corporation.
No it isn't. The sole purpose of a corporation is to serve the common good or pubic good. The first corporations granted corporate charters were the Honourable East India Company in 1600 and the Dutch East India Company in 1602. Both India Companies were shipping businesses, the Honourable company shipping goods between Britain and India and the Dutch operating between India and the Netherlands. Shipping was a risky business, a ship could be attacked by pirates, the crew could mutiny, or the ship could run into bad weather. And the ship's owner was liable for any and all cargo lost as well as for the lives of the crew. If for whatever reason a ship was lost that could bankrupt the owners. So the British and Dutch governments granted corporate charters to these companies which gave them limited liability. With limited liability the most an owner could lose is the amount they invested.
But because of this limited liability corporations were only granted charters if they served the public good. Once a business no longer served it it could have it's corporate charter revoked. Unfortunately as foreseen by Thomas Jefferson corporations became too powerful so they are no longer held to the standards of serving the public good.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, unfortunately corporations aren't what they used to be. The concept is about serving the public good but nowadays "the public good" seems to have been redefined to "the shareholders' dividend", consequences be damned.
Yea, there needs to be a renewed effort to revoke corporate charters.
Falcon
Just because your technological solution isn't as high tech as mine doesn't diminish the problem.
It sounds like you believe high tech will solve all problems, when high tech creates it's own.
The way I read your response was "I didn't even need a computer so you can't complain that your favorite Office equivalent isn't quite as equivalent as you thought."
Sorry that doesn't work. My major was Computer Engineering. I started using, an programming, computers before they became personal. My first ones were the Trash 80, er TRS-80, the original Apple, and an IMB 360 mainframe. It was because I loved programming, playing with, them that I decided to major in CE.
Falcon
This is the first time in quite a few years that I've heard someone mention the (defunct) Amazon Auctions service as if it were active.
Not having heard Amazon's auction was defunct I googled it and found this "Amazon vs. eBay: Battle of the Online Auctions" from 31 January 2008. It was the third result out of more than 3 million. Restricting the search to just the past month still results in about 137,000. E-Commerce News published the article "Online Auctions, Part 1: The eBay Earthquake" on 9 September. In it there's this: "By restructuring its fees, eBay is likely attempting to ratchet up its competitiveness with Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) Latest News about Amazon.com, which has no listing fees." So they didn't know Amazon went defunct either. Also in the ad area to the right there's an ad for Amazon Auctions, now why would Amazon be buying add for a service that doesn't exist anymore?
On the other hand, I don't see auctions listed on Amazon, so maybe it's only been recently that Amazon stopped auctioning. What I find ironic if true is that the first result searching Amazon for auction is "How to Sell Anything on Amazon...and Make a Fortune!".
Falcon
Can you sell to the same market? Unless Ebay is listing those auctions, then no, you can't.
There are services and software that allows people to monitor auctions on different websites. However like eBay other auction sites don't allow people to bid or sell on items from other online auction websites. That doesn't make them all monopolies.
Falcon
You imagine people will keep working on software out of altruistic desire forever? Many people I know are in this profession solely for the high salaries. Once OSS peanut-salary is the norm, they will dump this profession like a cheap rental suit.
Capitalism at work. People can go try to find a job that pays more, then when they leave programming employers will be willing to pay more.
Free software, free music, free movies, free everything! This is turning into a planet full of self-righteous leeches.
It certainly seems that way. However perhaps businesses that try to make money from these need to come up with a new business plan. With iTunes Apple showed the RIAA that given an easy way to pay for music cheaply people will buy songs. Sure people still infringe on copyrights but not as many.
Falcon
If Wall Street gets that money then Washington should get a cut of the action. I'm not sure how it can be dealt with though, not all businesses financial or otherwise used questionable practices but if the ones that did are bailed out then it sends the message that government will take care of you even if you do bad things.
I'd had CNN on almost all day and I kept hearing about how McCain has criticized Obama for not releasing a plan to deal with the financial crisis but to me McCain is reacting too fast. We don't need to treat the symptoms but not do anything about the cause, and I don't think more regulations is the solution. Better ones perhaps but not more. So I'll wait for Obama's plan. Not that I support either one, I don't.
Falcon
if it were up to me, I'd have imposed a "Bailout Tax" or levy on all companies in the financial industry during the good times. The money goes to a Bailout Fund.
It sounds like that is what's needed now.
The other industries seem to manage themselves better and not have to run to "Mama" every decade. So as long as they haven't grown up, they need extra rules.
I'm not sure there's an industry that has grown up, except some illegal ones.
During the good times, they get all the money, and during the bad times the taxpayers have to pay? Yes there are already corporate taxes, but do they really cover the bailouts?
Businesses don't get all the money, like during the '90s most people's lives in the US improved. As for bailouts, I don't particularly like them, just as individuals should businesses should plan for bad tymes. Actually I'd prefer to help individuals than businesses. Unfortunately in tymes like now things, people and businesses, are so interdependent to be effective with trying to help people you basically have to bailout businesses too.
Falcon
Most people run the OS that came with their unit. I'd hardly look at upgrade numbers to gauge much of anything.
Those Dells come with either XP or Vista, and some come with both. I don't look at version number much myself. The last Windows I was enthusiastic about was NT4, which was the only version of Windows I didn't have trouble with. I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro I got about 13 months ago. It came with 10.4, Tiger, and though I got Leopard later I haven't installed it yet. I might but don't know if I will. Leopard doesn't add anything I care about much right now. On the other hand I might order a new one, which will come with Leopard, in the coming months. This one's graphics is 1680 X 1020 and I want to get one with 1920 X 1200 resolution. I want to start a photography business so I want the higher resolution.
I haven't looked to see what OS the laptops I see are running but I've been seeing more and more MacBook/ MacBook Pros (which is growing in market share),
Yes it is growing and that's good for the industry as a whole. But even so Vista is still easily outselling OSX at 5 to 1, and probably more like 8 to 1.
While PC sales are a mixed bag Mac sales are setting new records. According to one poll 34% of respondents plan to buy Mac laptops and 30% desktops. Now I don't know the poll methodology, which probably effects the outcome. However even though consumer spending is down people say they are more likely to buy a Mac.
the glowing apple is easy to spot but I know of no way to tell what version of Windows is running without looking at the OS.
You can't tell what version of OSX they are running either without looking at the OS. You'd be suprised how many are still running 10.4 or earlier.
Perhaps I went about it wrong but one point I wanted to get across is that I've been seeing more people with Mac laptops than I used to see.
As for Vista, its really not -that- hard. A glace at the taskbar will give you a pretty good idea in most cases.
I try not to look at other people's screens, Mac or Windows. Heck for all I know some may be running Linux, whether on a Mac or PC. Actually before I got my Mac I was thinking of installing Ubuntu up it to dual boot. But not seeing a good reason I decided not to.
Falcon
finding programmers for open source positions is the problem.. and the reason why its so hard to find them is because open source programming jobs are so much more demanding. How demanding? About as difficult as getting commit access to one of the major free software projects (as that is what is typically involved). There's no "kids gloves" for new developers, you've got to get up to speed very quickly.
I've heard, I don't work as a programmer so take it with a grain of salt, that the best way to get a position on a FOOS project is to look at a project's bugs then come up with fixes and submit them. If I were just starting out in programming and college I'd look for projects I was interested in that were active and do that.
Falcon
i never understood the whole free software thing. trust me i love it, (firefox, filezilla, xbmc, pidgin, etc...) but i don't get it.
let me explain. software developers are smart people. they have a talent, a skill, and in this world people with talents and skills get paid for them.
name me one other industry where talented people give away work for free. i dont see accountants lining up to do your taxes for free, doctors ready to treat you for free and professors willing to teach you for free. unfortunately that's not how this world works, but developers don't seem to care.
Businesses pay employees to work on some of these open source projects. And while many accountants may not do taxes returns free some do something financial for free. My sister, who's a Certified Public Accountant, has taught free classes and seminars. For instance she's taught parents how they can get financial aide for their college bound kids.
i understand all the benefits of sharing source code and innovating and improving with others around the globe. it's truly amazing. case closed. but from the whole business perspective it doesn't make sense.
Sure it does make sense. Businesses employ and pay people to work on these projects then they turn around and sell services. Take for instance IBM, IBM is transitioning from a hardware to a services company. Need a computer system, IBM can come in and evaluate, analysis, your business needs then build the system. Redhat doesn't make money selling Linux, they give it away, instead they makes money selling service and support. The same with many other Linux distros.
its almost counter productive if you think about it... go to your software development job, work on a product, then go home and work on a free open source product in your spare time and give it away for free...
Working on your own projects at home can increase your skills and with increased skills your employer may pay you more. Or another employer may see your work and make an employment offer itself. One thing I've heard more and more employers are doing is googling prospective employees to see what type of projects they worked on and to get an idea of the quality of their work.
Falcon
Glad I never got one of those fancy degree's, they obviously do not teach spelling or grammar.
Perhaps Mexican universities don't teach IT classes in English. Looking at many of the posts on /. US universities don't teach English well either.
Falcon
In fact, the problem isn't finding jobs, the problem is finding programmers.
You shouldn't say that. MS and other businesses will use that as justification to request more H1-b visas. There isn't a shortage of programmers, the shortage is in the number of programmers willing to work for what these businesses are willing to pay.
Falcon
Interesting that none of their recommendations include developing better software than OSS.
Actually they do. From TFA "the commercial firm must compete by out-innovating the free product."
Falcon
the most successful firms are the ones that have embraced open source tools and techniques to build their own unique product.
Microsoft is a sore exception, and would probably be doing much better if they weren't so anti-open source.
Microsoft has used open source stuff. MS's Windows Sockets API or Winsock was based on Berkeley sockets API. that's only one example but I'm pretty sure others can point to more open source stuff MS has used.
Falcon
it's capitalism - as long as iot's within the bounds of the law it's all about competition and squeezing your competitors out
That's not what capitalism is about, capitalism encourages competition. What you're proposing, monopolies, is what what Adam Smith the Father of capitalism was opposed to. He didn't even like patents calling them a necessary evil. To Adams capitalism provided a fair or equitable and optimum outcome for everyone.
Falcon
As is CinePaint, which is also open source. It's not as good capability wise as Photoshop but it does a lot photographers want to do.
Falcon
In other areas it seems like the intersection between programmers and users are very low, like say video editors. If you've tried any of the OSS editors and compared them to commercial ones, you know what I mean.
Have you tried CinePaint aka Film GIMP? Movie makers like Dreamworks uses it, along with Linux.
All in all, I don't think closed source companies will disappear for a very long time even if Windows/Office were to disappear (and that's a looooooong way to go there too).
There's no good reason for closed source software to disappear. I'd like to see more open source but wouldn't make all software open. Instead I'd let a freemarket encourage competition, as well as cooperation.
Falcon
MS lost both marketshare and mindshare with Vista. Everyone, from the kid down the street to the sysadmin to the 50 year old knows that Vista sucks. There is no denying it.
Really? In my experience the number of laptops I've seen where the user is running Vista seems to be growing.
If Vista is so popular then why do OEMs still install or offer XP? And why has MS extended service and support for XP? For instance Dell is still selling PCs preloaded with XP. Of those laptops you see with Vista I wonder how many came with it preinstalled vs how many installed Vista on the laptop. I haven't looked to see what OS the laptops I see are running but I've been seeing more and more MacBook/ MacBook Pros (which is growing in market share), the glowing apple is easy to spot but I know of no way to tell what version of Windows is running without looking at the OS.
Falcon
I see no problem with teaching people A method to compete in the market place.
Competition is good, yes, but "divide and conquer"?
I'd actually be disappointed if information like this weren't being taught in Silicon Valley!
And I'm kind of disappointed the benefits and liabilities of cooperation isn't being taught.
Falcon
I used open source in school along with proprietary software.
Evolution doesn't let you create appointments that follow your class schedule. For example, I have a class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Outlook let's you check the appropriate boxes for recurrences but Evolution only lets you do one day a week, so you have to create 3 weekly appointments just for one class.
When I was in school, I didn't need any computer to keep track of my classes. Instead I used a paper planner. All I needed to use it was a pen or pencil though I did use coloured highlighters to colour code the different classes. When I was in therapy after an accident the therapists had us do the same thing, keep a paper based calendar or planner to write all the different therapy sessions and exercises.
I used to like Office because it was familiar, now I like it because it quickly and easily does what I want.
I used to use Office but now I/ve saved money since I've been using NeoOffice.
Falcon
Whenever you pay more than the distribution cost for a piece of software, it is overpriced. Zeros and ones does not cost anything to produce, more than the duplication and transfer cost.
Programmers don't need to eat?
Falcon
Funny how British colonization served the common good.
Well incorporating isn't the same as colonization.
Falcon
My MBA Program talks rather fondly of Open Source Software, for the most part. They just make you analysis the benefits in a business perspective, and try to decide when an Open Source product is worth it, or getting a closed source app may be a better overall value.
That's what everybody should do. First an analysis of the needs, what is required, should be done. Take the requirements to evaluate software then use that to decide what hardware and OS will run the chosen software. Sometimes a closed source proprietary solution is needed while other tymes FOOS can be used. Or they can be mixed and matched. For instance I'd like to start a photography business, shooting photos as well as creating online photography websites. So I can take my computer with me I have a MacBook Pro laptop. My desktop unit, a tower really, is a generic PC with Linux. I can use it as a server. For photo editing I have CinePaint, which lies between GIMP and Photoshop in capability, and it runs on both Linux and OS X as well as Windows. I'm hoping it will do everything I'll want to do, but if not I may spring for Photoshop. For editing code just about any text editor will work and there's plenty of those for every OS.
Falcon
Yes I do.
Growth is the sole raison d' être for a corporation.
No it isn't. The sole purpose of a corporation is to serve the common good or pubic good. The first corporations granted corporate charters were the Honourable East India Company in 1600 and the Dutch East India Company in 1602. Both India Companies were shipping businesses, the Honourable company shipping goods between Britain and India and the Dutch operating between India and the Netherlands. Shipping was a risky business, a ship could be attacked by pirates, the crew could mutiny, or the ship could run into bad weather. And the ship's owner was liable for any and all cargo lost as well as for the lives of the crew. If for whatever reason a ship was lost that could bankrupt the owners. So the British and Dutch governments granted corporate charters to these companies which gave them limited liability. With limited liability the most an owner could lose is the amount they invested.
But because of this limited liability corporations were only granted charters if they served the public good. Once a business no longer served it it could have it's corporate charter revoked. Unfortunately as foreseen by Thomas Jefferson corporations became too powerful so they are no longer held to the standards of serving the public good.
Falcon
Ebay holds a fully locked down monopoly, and they need to be regulated as such.
eBay is not a monopoly. There are plenty of online auctions, even Amazon has auctions.
Falcon