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Suppose open source ceased to exist...
... as a development model. Would any of the effects be negative?

The positive effects are immediately apparent.

To the extent that open source produces cheap ( that's price, not quality) products of limited functionality which replace proprietary software in the same market, the result would be a gain in jobs with no loss in functionality.

Some have argued that the public has gained because of the response of proprietary software companies to open source challengers.

But I think that any company comes to recognize the niche market for cheap, limited versions and fills it. Microsoft would have discovered the value of the inexpensive "educational" version of Office, to be made official by the new version, without having to observe the failure of Open Office in the market.

I'd thought the one area in which this might be untrue is the niche market, where potantial sales are few and a boutique product has a place. But watching Microsoft enter the super computer market has shown that a large company is surprisingly capable of filling niches.

Still, I'm open to a good example of any achievement by open source which makes the whole anti- salaries and jobs effort worthwhile. There may well be something beyond the obvious.
Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 08/21/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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GPL v3  Kevin Dean | 08/21/06
Ah, but he did.  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Suppose open source ceased to exist...  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
Give it a rest, Anton  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Fully rested  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
Why stop there?  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Despite Congress's extensions...  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
Brave New World  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Academic exception.  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
Have you ever seen the series Deadwood?  LazLong | 08/21/06
The fundamental things apply  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
So what you are saying..  Patrick Jones | 08/21/06
Software is a big industry...  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
I got paid for my open source work..  Patrick Jones | 08/21/06
Barter  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
pay more, get less  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Anton  Patrick Jones | 08/21/06
PJones - Many people sing...  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
YBK: Featherbedding?  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
Yes, featherbedding  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/22/06
YBK: So you are arguing...  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
No, I'm not  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/22/06
Anton  thelemite | 08/22/06
Okay, that makes more sense.  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
Or a lot smaller  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Not rested enough.  dave.leigh@... | 08/21/06
Profits attract competition.  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
anton...you've finally done it..  Monkey_MCSE | 08/21/06
If you were running Microsoft...  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
Anton swings... He misses!  dave.leigh@... | 08/21/06
Ahm... see the guy in the center field bleachers?  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
Yes, but you're weren't at bat.  dave.leigh@... | 08/22/06
Blamed for a missed swing in the on-deck circle?  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
Microsoft is not a good example  Patrick Jones | 08/21/06
You're full of garbage  BFD | 08/23/06
You really are the Black Knight in the Holy Grail  barsteward | 08/21/06
There would be one huge loss  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/21/06
Sorry ol' chap but yer wrong!  Linux User 147560 | 08/21/06
People can break the chains of oppression...  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
No TCP/IP for Windows  Robert Crocker | 08/22/06
Thank you for the minimum wage perspective.  B.O.F.H. | 08/22/06
Calling John Carroll... Calling John Carroll  thelemite | 08/22/06
It would be an unpleasant world  Steve Z | 08/22/06
Better alternatives  Anton Philidor | 08/22/06
Negative effects  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
Forgot to mention...  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
Open source or pencil and paper?  Anton Philidor | 08/23/06
So the answer to open source is...  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
Lack of competition?  Anton Philidor | 08/23/06
See my response to John C,  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
What Anton's argument amounts to...  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
Prospering programmers.  Anton Philidor | 08/23/06
Who says I'd be unpaid?  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
Agreed, almost.  Anton Philidor | 08/24/06
Stange Economics  shis-ka-bob | 08/23/06
Well put  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
Amateur Competition  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/23/06
There are different markets...  Anton Philidor | 08/23/06
Not everyone gets to contribute to open source  Arthas | 08/21/06
Company collaborative software.  Anton Philidor | 08/21/06
broken window fallacy  lhcrouch | 08/21/06
But how many people actually get to work on linux?  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Not a falsehood at all  Arthas | 08/21/06
Circle, schmirkle  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
Thanks for proving my point  Arthas | 08/21/06
sounds like whining man...  Monkey_MCSE | 08/21/06
I'm no fan of open source  Arthas | 08/22/06
Oh, stop the crying.  dave.leigh@... | 08/22/06
Create my own distro?  Arthas | 08/22/06
Arthas: That's an alternative if you ignore all the rest of it.  dave.leigh@... | 08/22/06
Fine by me...  bportlock | 08/21/06
That depends...  Patrick Jones | 08/21/06
Not true  xstep | 08/22/06
GNU Linux and the OPERATING SYSTEM  Roger Ramjet | 08/21/06
I can accept this construction  John Carroll ZDNet Moderator | 08/21/06
So?  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/21/06
How does his opinion change anything?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/21/06
the same can be asked of Stallman too...  Monkey_MCSE | 08/21/06
Are you sure  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/22/06
that i don't know...  Monkey_MCSE | 08/22/06
No, Stallman is the one writing the GPL  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/22/06
still goes to what I asked though...  Monkey_MCSE | 08/22/06
Exactly  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/22/06
How can it be any easier?  Patrick Jones | 08/21/06
GPL "history"  Roger Ramjet | 08/22/06
Well, mythology  Yagotta B. Kidding | 08/22/06
We're both wrong  Roger Ramjet | 08/22/06
Only way Stallman's dream can come to pass...  John L. Ries | 08/23/06
Wrong??  bmeacham98@... | 08/21/06
Marcia Brady's bad hair day...  John Le'Brecage | 08/21/06
Standards rallying cry?  Robert Crocker | 08/22/06
Re: Arthas "i'm not fan of Open Source"  Monkey_MCSE | 08/22/06
Three words: wrong, Wrong, WRONG  Arthas | 08/22/06
Misconception here  Steve Z | 08/22/06
MONEY  henkenm@... | 08/23/06
Yes he is... where true wealth counts.  Linux User 147560 | 08/23/06
Innovation not always from the shrink wrapped software  Robert Crocker | 08/23/06
Corpulent capybaras don't code...  John Le'Brecage | 08/24/06
A fortune cookie about capybaras?  Anton Philidor | 08/24/06
Trogolydytes' trained truculent tortoises torture kittens.  John Le'Brecage | 08/24/06
Anton  Hrothgar - PCLinuxOS User | 08/27/06
Designs are IP and protected.  Anton Philidor | 08/27/06
Fair ??  Aussie_Troll | 12/06/06

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