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From: Shane Nay <shane@minirl.com>
To: Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>, zippel@linux-m68k.org (Roman Zippel)
Subject: Re: Bitkeeper licence issues
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 12:01:27 -0800
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Cc: davem@redhat.com (David S. Miller), lm@bitmover.com, pavel@ucw.cz,
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> Hans Reiser's team of Russian wizards is simply a couple of years
> ahead of everyone else moving all real software development to the
> czech republic and india, the phone support to the philipines and
> the hardware to taiwanese and chinese bulk build to order.

Normal software development in economic terms is normally treated as 
a fixed cost to produce a "product".  Fixed costs determine market 
entry and exit points, not profitability.  Phone support, bulk built 
to order, and the way that most Taiwanese firms do hardware are 
variable costs.  Economically speaking it's an apples and oranges 
comparison, and to say one follows from the other is not really 
accurate.

Free software development on the other hand is a bit more tricky, and 
I could see how exporting the work in certain scenarios would make a 
lot of sense.  However, to this point most of us working in the Free 
Software industry are funded by companies working on "products".

(You're sounding like a lot of my friends in the SARHK when speaking 
of China Alan 8).

Asside- Fixed costs also determine other things like the number of 
competitors that can operate in a market for a particular good.  
Pretty much all software is an Oligopoly whereas the other things you 
mention are much closer to true competition.  The reason Free 
Software development is more tricky is that if Free Software were to 
rule the world, then it would be individual consultants vying for the 
same business of modifications to Free code bases.  So, in the 
alternate universe where all software is Free Software, Perfect 
Competition would probably rein supreme and there would be 1000s of 
consultants vying to make custom modifications for particular 
companies.  In that alternate universe, then programmers from western 
countries would be probably be driving dump trucks by day, and 
programming at night for fun.  Luckily I learned how to varnish and 
stain wood when I was a kid, so even if the alternate universe hits, 
I'm ready.