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gryfang · May 15th, 2006, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaWei

Shoot, if one can find a market for senseless blathering, one is entitled to get rich from it.

I think there already are several distinct groups that make large amounts of money for that, but I know some people I went to college with that would provide all the senseless blathering you could handle for free.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaWei

lebenty-jillion dollars

How many Zeros is that

Ooble · May 15th, 2006, 1:30 PM

I have to agree with DaWei here. I've put countless hours of my life into learning how to program for one reason: so I can enjoy my life. To enjoy my life, I need to fund my excessive gaming addiction, I need to pay for my girlfriend and I to go out for dinner (when I have one), I need to buy badminton equipment... all of it takes money.

Jessehk · May 15th, 2006, 4:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arevos

Mass-marketed public software, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop, occupies a fairly small niche in the software industry. The majority of the money in the software industry comes from creating custom software for businesses, such as stock-control systems, online shopping sites, etc.

Open source software draws money away from the former market, whilst lowering costs in the latter. Without open source libraries like the Jakarta Commons, and without open source applications such as Tomcat and MySQL, the software I create would take much longer to program. Indeed, we couldn't do half the things we do without open source software. Thus, in the bespoke software market, open source actually raises profits.

I can't say you're right, because I don't know, but I know a close relative of mine is a consultant who installs Peoplesoft accounting software for very large companies. He says it can costs upwards of $100, 000.00 to implement a custom solution for a company. Is this the type of software that you are saying dominates the industry?

DaWei · May 15th, 2006, 5:21 PM

It's more than just that, Jesse. The majority of computer systems built commercially have nothing to do with the desktop/laptop machines that are envisioned as the "world of computing" by a majority of the members of this forum. Embedded systems and commercial applications such as mentioned by Arevos far outnumber them. These are more or less "invisible", but you know they're there if you stop and think for a minute about the things that get done to uphold your expectations of your life. (Cheap products because of machine-controlled processes, mail delivery, things of that nature.)

chepfaust · May 15th, 2006, 5:52 PM

while it would be a Good Thing for companies to release their source code for educational/debugging purposes, they really don't have any obligation to do so.

something i've been pondering lately is applying open source philosophy to other aspects of life.

personally, i would like to see an open-source government, where nothing takes place behind closed doors. everything the government does or is planning on doing is available for perusal by anyone who cares.

Arevos · May 15th, 2006, 6:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessehk

I can't say you're right, because I don't know, but I know a close relative of mine is a consultant who installs Peoplesoft accounting software for very large companies. He says it can costs upwards of $100, 000.00 to implement a custom solution for a company. Is this the type of software that you are saying dominates the industry?

Sort of. As DaWei says, the majority of software exists in the background of everyday life. The software that runs web retailers like Amazon, the stock control systems in supermarkets, the financial systems in banks, the software in ATMs, the little displays at checkouts, software to manage TV schedules, software to run mobile phones, software in military flight simulators, medical record storage - the list goes on.

I recall reading an article that did a finger-in-the-air test of this by looking at a random selection of software development jobs advertised by several recruitment agencies, and seeing what percentage were for development on shrink-wrapped software packages, and what percentage was on custom built software solutions. I believe it was something like 95% of the jobs advertised were for development of custom software systems.

This more or less tallies with my own experience. I found very few software companies that created software for widespread public use. The vast majority were for companies that specialise in designing custom systems.

msk420 · May 15th, 2006, 6:20 PM

I think open source is good, but for open source to work you need people to realize that some applications need to be sold, but not all of them need to be sold at outrageosly high prices.

proudnerd · May 18th, 2006, 8:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King

Open source is awesome, but not everything should be open source

I agree. Games and applications that are going to be sold definately shouldn't be open source, but free games and applications should be.

DaWei · May 18th, 2006, 8:38 PM

You're saying free things should be free and non-free things shouldn't?

proudnerd · May 18th, 2006, 8:56 PM

Well, here's an example of what I'm trying to say:

A large game company with a large development team that makes a game shouldn't make it open source because they already have enough experienced people working on it, but a one or two person project should be open source if it's ever going to be great.

I'm also trying to say that any large project that won't be sold should be open source.

View Poll Results: What are your feelings on open source?
I think its a grate idea.	22	81.48%
Not so good of an idea.	5	18.52%
Voters: 27. You may not vote on this poll

May 15th, 2006, 1:30 PM	#32
Ooble I eat cake for breakfast. Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In my box. Posts: 4,434 Rep Power: 9	I have to agree with DaWei here. I've put countless hours of my life into learning how to program for one reason: so I can enjoy my life. To enjoy my life, I need to fund my excessive gaming addiction, I need to pay for my girlfriend and I to go out for dinner (when I have one), I need to buy badminton equipment... all of it takes money. __________________ Me :: You :: Them

May 15th, 2006, 5:21 PM	#34
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	It's more than just that, Jesse. The majority of computer systems built commercially have nothing to do with the desktop/laptop machines that are envisioned as the "world of computing" by a majority of the members of this forum. Embedded systems and commercial applications such as mentioned by Arevos far outnumber them. These are more or less "invisible", but you know they're there if you stop and think for a minute about the things that get done to uphold your expectations of your life. (Cheap products because of machine-controlled processes, mail delivery, things of that nature.) __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

May 18th, 2006, 8:38 PM	#39
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	You're saying free things should be free and non-free things shouldn't? __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

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May 15th, 2006, 5:52 PM	#35
chepfaust Programmer Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 62 Rep Power: 4	while it would be a Good Thing for companies to release their source code for educational/debugging purposes, they really don't have any obligation to do so. something i've been pondering lately is applying open source philosophy to other aspects of life. personally, i would like to see an open-source government, where nothing takes place behind closed doors. everything the government does or is planning on doing is available for perusal by anyone who cares.

May 15th, 2006, 6:20 PM	#37
msk420 Programmer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 85 Rep Power: 3	I think open source is good, but for open source to work you need people to realize that some applications need to be sold, but not all of them need to be sold at outrageosly high prices.

May 18th, 2006, 8:56 PM	#40
proudnerd Newbie Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	Well, here's an example of what I'm trying to say: A large game company with a large development team that makes a game shouldn't make it open source because they already have enough experienced people working on it, but a one or two person project should be open source if it's ever going to be great. I'm also trying to say that any large project that won't be sold should be open source.

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