Some points :


a)

        Scarcity regarding software means *scarcity of brains*. Real,
physical brains. That's not created by law. To write complex software is not
easy, that's why software has value. Any attempt to deny such a basic fact
will lead to lots of nonsensical arguments.


b)

        Somebody tried to justify gratis software saying that copying is
gratis. You need something known as the hardware industry to be able to copy
(or run) software. I don't think silicon is gratis...

        Even if copying were gratis, that has nothing to do with the price
of software. That price is dictacted by development costs and profit. Supply
and demand are secondary.

        Software is not different from any manufacturing industry. There are
costs, there are profits for the people who use their brains. Any argument
against this is an argument against capitalism, individual rights, the open
society, or whatever name you wish to give it. It's an argument about and
against the very political foundations of society. Unless you're advocanting
for a collectivist society...


c)

        The fact that an individual is able to enter into an open source
contract, or not,  doesn't mean that the open source scheme is right, per se.

        That is, trying to prove the economic soundness of open source
because some people are willing to enter into open source contracts is a
completly misleading argumentation.

        I'm not ever using open source code if that means making my own code
open source. Because I perfectly understand the legal framework that would
bind me if I did. It would be a subverted law. I don't agree with a law (the
OS licence) wich forces me to give my property away.

        I'm not ever accepting that such an scheme(OSS) is a viable one for
a market economy. I have all the proper arguments to back such an assertion.


d)

        I don't think Russell is a qualified speaker for what capitalism is.
Just a correction, as a sample:

Russell said:

>A stock market crash constitutes fair dealing as long as
>everyone concerned has dealt in a manner in accordance with pre-agreed
>rules.

        A stock market crash is caused by public policies. Inform yourself
regarding the bussines cycle. http://www.mises.org.

        Stock market crashes are caused by the mighty PUBLIC central bank
inflating the money supply, that is, creating cheap money wich is
malinvested in the stock exchange. Stock crashes are caused  when capitalism
is overriden by the will of a few 'selected' men who think that can dictate
what the interest rate should be, i.e. Greenspan. That's not capitalism but
lack thereof.


e)

                Wouter answers part of my message confusing a quotation from
Jeff Byron with my own content...read carefully.



Regards.

Juan.




































        If programming were so value-free that anybody could write anything,
without effort, I don't know why I have to pay for my 3D animation and
modelling software. I'm more or less aquainted with that market and I know
what features I can get for free, and what features I need to pay for. That
is, I, as a customer know what I'm talking about, as opposed to socialist
daydreaming.

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