Subj : Re: GNU Public Licences Revisited (again)
To   : comp.programming
From : Chris Sonnack
Date : Fri Aug 26 2005 01:38 pm

David Golden writes:

From the end of your post:

> Software is just a set of instructions for a machine to follow,...

And a book is just words to read.  Does the author of a book have
the moral right to copyright protection AS WELL AS the right to
sell the fruits of their labor?

I see parallels with books and software.

Both CAN be copied electronically, so the cost of 10 verses the
cost of 10,000 isn't an issue.

And the actual cost of producing the first unit is deceptively
low.  I say deceptively, because the cost of the author reaching
the point where they can write the work in question may be very
high  (consider, for example, an expert work that took years to
research and construct).

In both cases, the *direct* cose probably is very low.  A PC, some
electricity, some paper.  (But what about your time?  What about
a roof over your head while you work?  How about groceries?)

> Copyright and patent monopoly laws represent gross interference
> in the software market,....

Why?

If I have spent years reaching a level of knowledge that allows
me to create a useful, expert work, why don't I have a right to
protect and benefit from that investment?

> Software in the abstract is nonrivalrous - if I give you a copy of
> some software, I still have my copy. If I give you a table,  I'm
> down one table.

I believe is what's leading you into the idea that software is a
service, yes?  I disagree--is authoring a book a service?  Is an
actor's performance a service?  How about a music album"

In the case of actors, musicians and authors, you *can* give away
the results of their efforts and "be out" nothing.  But you *have*
deprived these people of *their* income.

If it's your own efforts you want to distribute free, good on you,
mate.  But in a free world, you have no right to dictate how others
choose to recoup their effort.


> Software is just a set of instructions for a machine to follow,
> and if you instruct *your own machine* to follow some random
> instructions you found for free on the internet, why should it
> be anybody else's problem but your own,...

Exactly why I rarely touch free software anymore.  It might be
good, it might be crap.


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