Comments on: Bill Gates Completely Wrong http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/02/05/bill-gates-completely-wrong/ Self-Experimentation, Scientific Method, the Shangri-La Diet, etc. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:42:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: Cliff Styles http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/02/05/bill-gates-completely-wrong/#comment-269541 Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:31:48 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/02/05/bill-gates-completely-wrong/#comment-269541 Well, but Gates' question remains: who can afford to do professional work for nothing? Such producers still have to eat and pay the rent. One can choose to give away some part of what one produces, but not all. You may do a lot of work for free (including this blog, for which I am grateful), but you certainly don't do ALL of your professional work for free. One question I have is this: in Gates' world a man can love his work and simultaneously get paid for it, whereas in the free software world, one will never be paid for work one loves because someone is already doing it for free. So doesn't it follow that in the free software world, programmers have to do work they detest so they can give away the stuff they love doing? I guess that's not so far from the real world, is it? It's great for the consumer, but is it really all that wonderful for the producer? Well, but Gates’ question remains: who can afford to do professional work for nothing? Such producers still have to eat and pay the rent. One can choose to give away some part of what one produces, but not all. You may do a lot of work for free (including this blog, for which I am grateful), but you certainly don’t do ALL of your professional work for free.

One question I have is this: in Gates’ world a man can love his work and simultaneously get paid for it, whereas in the free software world, one will never be paid for work one loves because someone is already doing it for free. So doesn’t it follow that in the free software world, programmers have to do work they detest so they can give away the stuff they love doing?

I guess that’s not so far from the real world, is it? It’s great for the consumer, but is it really all that wonderful for the producer?

]]> by: JIm N http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/02/05/bill-gates-completely-wrong/#comment-268557 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:04:06 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/02/05/bill-gates-completely-wrong/#comment-268557 Interesting to think about software and Open Source in comparison to journalism. I want to point one thing out, though, about Open Source. Though many Open Source projects are open to, and receive input from, a wide variety of contributors, most of the huge Open Source projects, like Linux, are being developed by paid, professional coders employed to do so by large corporations. Why? Because it is in the interest of the corporations to do so. Yet, they return their contributions to the public (usually under some sort of Open Source license), where anyone can use them. Point is, it's possible that in the future people will make money being journalists, but that their incomes will not depend on restricting access to the works they create. You can "give away" your work, and still make money from it. Interesting to think about software and Open Source in comparison to journalism. I want to point one thing out, though, about Open Source. Though many Open Source projects are open to, and receive input from, a wide variety of contributors, most of the huge Open Source projects, like Linux, are being developed by paid, professional coders employed to do so by large corporations.

Why? Because it is in the interest of the corporations to do so. Yet, they return their contributions to the public (usually under some sort of Open Source license), where anyone can use them.

Point is, it’s possible that in the future people will make money being journalists, but that their incomes will not depend on restricting access to the works they create.

You can “give away” your work, and still make money from it.

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