Re: Why DRM exists [was Re: Flame Linus to a crisp!]

Alan Cox
2003-04-27T22:51:49Z

On Sul, 2003-04-27 at 23:32, Larry McVoy wrote:
> If that's what you heard, I didn't get across what I meant. In the
> business world, it's a well established fact that you don't win by
> copying the leader, the leader will always out distance you.

Very few companies win by being the leader. You win by letting someone
else create the market then jumping on them with lots of money, sharp
marketing and business sense.

> My message was that instead of sitting around copying other people's
> programs, it would be far more interesting if the open source community
> came up with original works on their own.

Lots of Linux stuff is new and unique - from doing threading right to
stuff like IP Masquerading, to the Glibc extensions to make
internationalisation actually sane.

> I take the long view
> which says that if you look far enough out, if the open source community
> is successful enough, there won't be anything left to copy.

Like the patent office head who proposed closing it because nothing was
left to invent

> That's not a problem except that the commercial companies are spending
> the R&D to create new stuff and the open source guys using the proprietary
> programs as a roadmap to make a free version. Not a problem until you go
> looking for a business model based on open source which can generate the
> revenue that it takes to do something new. Nobody has in the many years
> I've pointed out this problem.

Your economic model is flawed because if something needs doing enough
someone will pay to do it. The moment the value exceeds the cost it
should happen. Government keeps raising the cost of doing anything but
sitting at home watching TV but even with that factor included people
will pay the cost when it is needed.

Its also not clear that open source companies will replicate everything
or have the ability to do so. Even without US patent bogons its doubtful
that open source is going to replace Oracle in a hurry. It takes time
for stuff to become commodity.

As to using one companies lessons to do your work, how much did BK learn
from what *didn't* work well in Clearcase. Rather a lot I believe. That
learning fuels innovation.

Alan