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Open source software hurts the poor nations |
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Open source fanatics insist that the poor nations will benefit from Linux and other open source software because they will not have to spend money on the software. Ironically, when software is free, it takes away the motivation of the people to develop software because they will not be able to make a living from it. Compare India and Mexico to better understand this. For many years India has been promoting computer programming skills and the sale of software. Today India has a large software development business. This provides lot of Indians with a decent income. At the other extreme, Mexico City is switching from Windows to Linux.
If the Mexican government were to insist that all software be free and
open source, no Mexican citizen would be able to make a living by producing
software for the Mexican government. If Mexican industries also demand
open source software, no Mexican citizen would be able to make a living
by producing software for Mexican industries.
When software is free, who wants to become a computer programmer?You can see this concept in America in regards to the entertainment business. The American people willingly pay large amounts of money to Hollywood, TV, and music groups. The Americans also pay royalties to watch repeats of the TV shows and movies, as well as paying royalties to music groups. The end result is that there is a tremendous financial incentive to produce entertainment material. This in turn is the reason millions of American are struggling to become famous music bands, Hollywood stars, and TV stars.If the American people insisted that entertainment be free, and if they insisted that entertainment material be open source rather than copyrighted, then most of the people who are currently struggling to become entertainers would quit struggling. The entertainment business would diminish in size as a result. The would-be Hollywood stars would then find something more productive to do with their life. If a nation encourages the copywriting of entertainment material, and if a nation encourages the paying of royalties to entertainers, it encourages its citizens to become entertainers. If a nation encourages the copywriting of software, and if it encourages the paying of royalties to software developers, it encourages its citizens to become software developers. India is one of the few nations that has discovered that by encouraging
the sale of software, they can provide themselves with a nice income. By
comparison, Mexico, China, and some other nations are encouraging open
source software, and this is reducing the incentive of their citizens to
develop software. Also, if a Mexican or Chinese citizen wants to make a
living as a computer programmer, he will find more opportunities in America.
Open source gives citzens an incentive to move to a non-open source nation.
The nations that promote open source software are hurting themselves. Open
source is as unrealistic as Marxism.
Software is an ideal industry for poor nationsFor Mexico to compete with Mercedes-Benz or Toyota would be extremely difficult. It would require a tremendous amount of experience and money for Mexico to set up a large, advanced automobile manufacturing industry. By comparison, it is very easy for Mexico to start a software development industry. All they need to do is purchase some computers and software development tools.India is the best example of this. They developed a large software development
business without a great deal of money or experience.
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