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Sign of the times for OpenSource software?
Renegade:
I think in the end it comes down to a simple equation based on the two most limited resources people have - money and time. Whichever one of those wins out will dictate what they gravitate to- everything else is just framing that argument.
-wraith808 (November 09, 2012, 10:32 AM)
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I'd add in Stallman's position there. There are philosophical reasons to use freedom software. They're not really affected by price so much.
wraith808:
I think in the end it comes down to a simple equation based on the two most limited resources people have - money and time. Whichever one of those wins out will dictate what they gravitate to- everything else is just framing that argument.
-wraith808 (November 09, 2012, 10:32 AM)
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I'd add in Stallman's position there. There are philosophical reasons to use freedom software. They're not really affected by price so much.
-Renegade (November 09, 2012, 08:16 PM)
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That's a matter of time. Usually philosophical reasons make you take a less efficient and less convenient route, i.e. cost you more time.
Renegade:
That's a matter of time. Usually philosophical reasons make you take a less efficient and less convenient route, i.e. cost you more time.
-wraith808 (November 09, 2012, 08:27 PM)
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I think that's a point where we'll never agree. I see no reason why philosophical reasons can't make you more efficient or lead you down a more convenient route, costing you less time and money. It can go either way.
wraith808:
That's a matter of time. Usually philosophical reasons make you take a less efficient and less convenient route, i.e. cost you more time.
-wraith808 (November 09, 2012, 08:27 PM)
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I think that's a point where we'll never agree. I see no reason why philosophical reasons can't make you more efficient or lead you down a more convenient route, costing you less time and money. It can go either way.
-Renegade (November 09, 2012, 10:10 PM)
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Not saying that it couldn't... especially in the long run. But in the short run... show me a case.
Renegade:
Not saying that it couldn't... especially in the long run. But in the short run... show me a case.
-wraith808 (November 09, 2012, 10:42 PM)
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Well, for an abstract position...
David Hume's empiricism and on to rational maximization with John Stuart Mill's utilitarianism. That pretty much fits the bill for reducing costs and time investments.
For a more concrete example of preserving freedom and saving time/money in the FLOSS universe, 7-zip. It's faster & cheaper to download and use 7-zip rather than to take the time to purchase a license for a commercial compression utility. You save both time and money there.
For normal people, it is far faster and easier to use something like Paint.NET rather than Photoshop. The learning curve on Photoshop is pretty steep, whereas in Paint.NET it's much simpler and easier to use. You save money and time there. (I'm not saying that professional designers should use Paint.NET - I mean regular, normal people that do not do design and just want to draw a bit or do some simple image manipulation - those people outnumber professional designers by quite a bit.) The philosophical attraction to freedom there ends up saving time/money.
We could go on at length, but I think those examples should suffice.
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