Am Dienstag, den 04.03.2008, 23:34 -0800 schrieb Mark Tarver:
> 3. Do those who object to free software also object to free web email,
> free online stories, volunteer (free) home builders who help the poor,
> and free public education?
>
> No; but the difference is that many of these things are targeted at
> people who are poor.
This is not correct for free webmail or free online stories, which are
available to anybody regardless of monetary status.
> 4. Is there any hard, concrete data (polls, sales figures, etc.) that
> can show economic impact on both software businesses and the wider
> economy?
There are several estimates what the value of Linux would be if it were
sold. The results vary (and of course there's the question of what value
do we mean, production cost or potential sales value), but all end at a
low billion-dollar figure.
The economic impact being, of course, that businesses that use Linux did
not have to pay for it.
The secondary impact being that the Unix vendors have been drifting out
of business - though these businesses were not very successful and had
been crumbling under the Windows pressure anyway, so it's unlikely that
their demise can be attributed to Linux only. (Mostly, Unix vendors died
because they didn't cooperate and stayed too incompatible. Customers
want choice and interoperability, not being locked in. I'd attribute at
least 50% of the responsibility to the Unix vendors themselves...)
Regards,
Jo