SVDSD::PETCHER@ti-eg.CSNET (Old engineers do it with a slide rule) (12/21/86)
There is plenty of precedent for the use of public domain and government funded technology as a springboard for private enterprise. In general, the results have been beneficial for all. A striking example has been the evolution of the integrated circuit. Government funding for space and military programs has produced technological leaps, but the resulting technology is available to give you a better radio in a smaller package. Similarly, private, corporate, and government efforts produce software which is placed in the public domain. There's nothing wrong with somebody using that software as a technological springboard for developing a saleable product. Of course, if the value added does not equal the price, then as Rick Conn says, "Caveat emptor." As to the "free lunch" analogy: Sometime, somewhere, somebody invented the hamburger. That invention is, eventually, placed in the public domain. Now, I go out for lunch, and get a hamburger. Keep in mind, I don't want the rights to the hamburger, I just want a copy. I could, if I wanted to, go home and make my own hamburger, but I prefer the convenience of having a restaurant do it for me, for which they will charge medium costs, labor, and some reasonable profit. Further more, they may have some unique (value added) addition to the hamburger, in which case I might pay a premium price, but it's my choice to do so. Malcolm