Archive for the 'piracy' Category

Free Open Source Software

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Despite the fact that nobody is willing to pay for software and that proprietary software is free as in free beer, there are some points to be considered:

  • FOSS is legal to use, copy, modify, and distribute. Especially in China, where new laws can be enforced within little time, this can be a considerable advantage. However, it doesn’t seem that anti-piracy laws will be enforced anytime soon.
  • FOSS can be modified to meet the exact needs of the users. This is impossible with proprietary software.
  • FOSS has always been free, and FOSS-based companies have always been forced to come up with different business models. Hence the Chinese situation is not that different from other countries.

The question is: If people don’t pay for software, will they pay for customisation of open source code? Are they willing to pay for services and support related to the software?

Posted in asia, china, open source, piracy | 3 Comments »

Random Thoughts

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Posted in asia, china, academic, thoughts, open source, thesis, piracy | 5 Comments »