Re: Why is Nvidia given GPL'd code to use in non-free drivers?

Shane R. Stixrud
2003-01-04T08:31:31Z

On Sat, 4 Jan 2003, Mark Mielke wrote:

> If only it were that simple. Instead, the roof repair man repairs one
> house, the fix is propagated to all other houses via the Internet, the
> roof repair man puts *himself* out of a job, and the only people that
> make money are the Internet service providers. The roof repair man
> starves to death and finally ends up on (un)employment insurance.
>
> Continually comparing software development to traditional forms of
> labour is misleading and evidence that the issue is *not* being
> properly understood. A closer comparison would be to compare the design
> of software to the design of a building. But then - architects don't
> give their blueprints away for free - that would be suicidal...
>

Your position is based on the flawed assumption that the software world
will ever have enough functionality or run out of problems to solve. Even
in the roofing analogy its not every house has the same roof. Software is
only going to get more complex not less.

This is my last off topic post, sorry for the wasted bits.

Shane.