Science != Bussiness

I see computing as a Science. In the beginning there were unviversity 
students and teachers. Now, thanks to them,everybody is @ the web. Do people 
remmember to thank the pioneers ? (I am not a pioneer ). Are people aware of 
the technology they are using when they write a "simple" email ? Mostly 
aren't of course.

The web started small supported by enthusiasts. Now that the web is huge 
people are forgetting its initial goals and only want to make money.

Proprietary software is not to be criticized, since it can compete with all 
kinds of non-proprietary one, including Free Software. If both kinds of 
software are implementing some standard then we will see which one is the 
best. 

But, if one standard gets proprietary , this disables the ones who still face 
computing as a science and want to code their programs to help the comunity 
from pushing their programs to support new features.


Would someone patent Newton's Laws ? Or Quantum Mechanics ?


Best regards from Portugal
Gustavo Homem

Received on Friday, 5 October 2001 11:57:03 UTC