Re: [Fsfe-uk] Free Software Magazine got cheaper

[Paul Tansom]

On Sat, 2005-03-12 at 11:40 +0000, Lee Braiden wrote:
> On Saturday 12 March 2005 10:45, Sam Liddicott wrote:
> > Lee Braiden wrote:
> > >No, but as a member of the free software community, I'd offer to write an
> > >article once in a while, and if maybe to mirror a public distribution site
> > > or at least to run a bittorrent seed.  The only time you need
> > > corporate-style finances and resources is when you choose to be a
> > > top-down distribution and enforcement organisation.  To me, that's not
> > > what free software is about.
> >
> > Well free software is about being able to modify and improve designs and
> > share those designs.
> 
> That is one aspect of it, but there are many others, such as the ability to 
> actually get the sourcecode and build it yourself.

I'd have said those two statements were saying pretty much the same
thing myself :)

<snip>
> > AFAIK many top kernel contributors and maintainers have someone with
> > enough interest to pay their wages.
> 
> Well, if you think that Linux would not have succeeded without people paying 
> the developer's wages, I think you've got it backwards.  People pay wages to 
> Linux developers BECAUSE it has succeeded AS Free Software.

Possibly a distinction between then and now. Initially there would be
little of no interest in paying developers directly for their work, but
now I'd agree that a good number of free software developers are
employed because of their development work. That said, unless you are
particularly wealthy for some reason you still have to pay the bills, so
although the software is free it still wouldn't be developed without
some form of financial input - be that by the person doing the
development (able to survive without income or doing it in spare time
whilst holding down a full time job as well), by a company that is
willing to cover the salary cost because development of the project is
of value to them, or by virtue of donations from those using the
'product' (as in this case by means of subscription, although I suspect
that this is the least common method since donations would most likely
head towards the project directly in terms of hosting, hardware, etc.).

> > I want the magazine to keep existing 
> > each month. If a guy needs wages to do this magazine, I am happy to
> > contribute because I get my moneys worth.
> 
> I would rather have another guy write an article for an interest and concern 
> in the subject, rather than for pay.  It happens on Kuro5hin.org many times a 
> day, and on sites all over the internet.

Providing pay can enable someone who wishes to write an article for an
interest or concern in the subject to create the time to do it. I have a
couple of pieces I intend to write for the Linux Gazette
(http://linuxgazette.net/ - no debates on the history of the publication
please), but the need to spend time with my family and put food on the
table / pay the bills mean that I have to do the work that people pay
for. I'd like that to be Linux / free software work because that
interests me more, but unfortunately too much of that is Windows.

> > It is a nice ideal for the world to be the kind of world we think it
> > should be, sometimes financial support makes this ever so much more
> > likely in very specific ways.
> 
> Financial support can be a good incentive, yes.  There are better incentives 
> though, such as belief in a cause, the desire to educate others, sheer 
> excitement about a topic, altruism, genuine interest in discussing an 
> important point, simple community spirit, etc.

As noted above, the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive :)

<snip>

Apologies if this doesn't read well, I have a 3 month old on my lap who
is wriggling and I'll not reread it this time round.

-- 
Paul Tansom | Aptanet Ltd. | http://www.aptanet.com/