Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> Maximum Linux: Open talk about open source
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The best things in life aren't always free, but they should be. Air,
> | water, love, PC operating systems. All of these are essential to basic
> | human survival. Yet every breath we take is toxic, the only potable
> | water in most cities comes from plastic bottles, prenuptial
> | agreements are basically unenforceable, and Microsoft wants $400
> | for a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. Well, folks, I can't do much
> | about the first three problems, but I can offer a healthy solution
> | to the fourth:
> |
> | Linux.
> `----
>
> http://www.maximumpc.com/article/maximum_linux_open_talk_about_open_source
Nothing is free and it always has been, so you can have as much nothing as
you want.
But for everything else they is work or effort or tools involved, for these
someone has to pay, if you get it for free it is only because either
someone else has paid or because the community you are in is set up such
that the cost is soaked up by that community in other ways.
When we were monkeys we had to work, travel for water or follow the seasons
around in order to eat.
When we were born human we are born naked and dependant into a world of
shared resources. Someone had to put in the effort or cost to carry us to
the watering hole or the tap, someone had to take us to or fetch our food.
It cost us nothing, but it cost them effort or trade or money.
When we are adult is is our turn to give to the community.
Vista has a price, it is the price for the effort put in and the need to
feed the MS community.
Linux too has a price, but for most of us it is a cost that is soaked up by
the community. Never forget that someone put in effort to bring you your
free OS and free Office and free {fill in favourite applications}. There
was a cost and for some of those who contribute there is little or no
return for their efforts. For others there is a way to make a living
external to direct charging. Then for others they need a direct income. In
that list nothing is still free, everything else has cost someone
something.
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