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Availability bias. Most software people see is mass-distributed software: browser, OS, office suite, games… And it is much easier to extract money mass-distri
by loup-vaillant 10y ago
Availability bias.
Most software people see is mass-distributed software: browser, OS, office suite, games… And it is much easier to extract money mass-distributed software when it is proprietary.
In reality, most software that is actually made is custom software. Software that only a handful of people see, because it has only 1 customer, if any. Making that software free makes it easier to extract money from (at least in the short term), because source code availability is often sold for a price (the understanding being, giving the source code also means giving up on exclusivity for later maintenance).
- Ace17 10y ago> In reality, most software that is actually made is custom software. Do you have a source for this claim? (not denying, just curious to look at the numbers!)
- loup-vaillant 10y agoI recall Richard Stallman saying custom software comprises over 90% of the effort. I myself has to physically meet one person who is currently working on massively distributed software. (I have met some who have worked in games in the past.) I don't have anything more precise, but it seems to make sense.