Subj : Re: GNU Public Licences Revisited (again) To : comp.programming From : Randy Howard Date : Sat Aug 27 2005 12:24 am Chris Sonnack wrote (in article ): > Randy Howard writes: > >> They don't have to buy his software. The fundamental problem >> is the consumer herd mentality, not the law. If consumers only >> were willing to pay for quality, and actively boycotted bad >> software, bill gates would not be a billionaire today. > > And consumers have shown over and over that price comes before > quality. If that was completely true, open source software would have basically all of the market right now. Even without that, if consumers are willing to buy Microsoft products provided the cost is low (enough), and are willing to put up with virus, spyware, zombie-takeover and all the rest, then they get what they deserve. If they want better, options are available, and many of them actually cost less than Microsoft products, with or without open source in the picture. Personally, I'd rather spend my time getting work done than worrying about the latest 'outbreak' that my system needs to be immunized against. That basically means that Microsoft products can't exist on systems owned by me any more. I have an exception, a Windows box that I do not connect to the internet at all (on a separate network), that I use for development and testing. It never browses the web, checks email, or anything of the sort. It's much, much easier, less expensive and infinitely less trouble that way. -- Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR) .