[Fsf-india] Freedom, affordable costs... beer, freespeech

[Frederick Noronha]

My apologies for raking up a flame-war regarding my earlier. The feedback
I got on the Linux-in-the-Third-World article was most interesting, and it
was something one went through carefully.

Just to put a few of my own views forward:

* From some of the discussion, it appears that software professionals have
(genuine) fears that lower-costs of software could cut into their
earnings. But isn't there some other model (other than one influenced by
Bill Gates' famed letter to software enthusiasts)? One that lowers the
cost of software, makes it affordable to billions worldwide who currently
simply can't pay the price, widens the market, and rewards software
professionals at the same time? 

Or am I being too naively optimistic?

* As things stands today, in a country like India, the overwhelming bulk
of citizens can't afford software prices. At least not at the price-levels
fixed by the international market, for products that have come to be seen
as 'standard requirements' of any average computer users. This includes a
significant chunk the 200-300 million middle class which we often talk
about, as an example of India's purchasing power. If these people don't
have the economic freedom to utilise software, what 'freedom' are we
talking about? Is the software professional's "freedom" necessarily
opposed to the "freedom" of the user?

It seems we've gone too far down the road with this (once-valid) unstated
assumption that computer owners must be rich, and therefore they *should*
be able to pay almost-extortionate prices for even home-user
software. 

* Costs is the most significant factor in a price-sensitive market like
India, and, I guess, for large segments of the Third World. Don't we tend
to look at the right-hand-side of the menu when we visit a restaurant? (At
least I still do!) Didn't Nirma detergent or Amul Pizza become such a big
hit because of the marketing-model they choose: low-price,
high-turnover? Is there anything shameful about that? 

In doing so, in fact, such firms widening the market to include those who
would never, for example, ever think of buying a pizza. Yet, their earning
potential didn't suffer. Can't we learn something from the model of the
Udipi restauranteur, who manages to put out that tasty rice-plate at Rs 20
per head, and yet thrive? 

If countries like India and China have anything to give to the world once
again, it's how we can make products that the billions can
afford. Bringing products within the reach of the
otherwise-excluded... isn't this some kind of freedom and empowerment
too? More so when it's a powerful product like software, knowledge... or
even information put out by simple hacks like us?

My understanding may be wrong on all this... but let me continue anyway...

If our markets are so price-sensitive, are we doing the right thing by
overlooking this reality.

>From another perspective, wouldn't the very nature of *free software*
(being open in design and 'free' in replicability) result in the pulling
down of costs? Why run away from this reality?

Should we presume just because someone pays less for the initial product,
our own potential for earnings would necessarily drop?  By doing so,
aren't we walking into the Microsoft logic? And into a situation where the
user pays the price for box-packs, while services or solutions or
customisations are given short shrift... even though this is what is
really needed to enable a Third World nation to unleash its productive
potential.

At the end of the day, the question still remains: how do software
professionals feed themselves?

I'm not suggesting everyone on this list opts for the life of being a
*sanyasi* or a hermit. Professionals will continue to be professionals,
and will continue to charge for the value-added services they
provide. Once the quality is recognised, and the market is widened, they
would probably have far, far better earning potentials. And, unlike in
countries like the USofA, in our part of the world, the word 'free' (as in
price) is not neccessarily sniggered at on grounds of being
low-quality. If so, why have all those Chinese products invaded our
markets?

All that I'm saying is that, hey, there is already a terribly high amount
of volunteer work put in there. Millions of man hours probably, has gone
into creating a fantastic OS that has immense potential. Probably more
volunteer work is going to go into it. (Perhaps not from small struggling
companies, but at least from college students, programmers who want
non-monetary rewards in their off-duty hours, and the IBMs and the giants
out there who do so with whatever motives.) 

So why not cash-in (pun intended) on this?

If people can't afford to pay at what have now become standard software
prices -- and price is a big issue for most of the people, in much of the
Third World -- can't we point them to this solution?

Fears that once people get used to 'free' or low-cost
(pricewise) software, they won't be willing to pay... are only
fears. 

We've seen that if disproportionately high prices are charged, then
people are going to pirate. We've also seen that if people are not given a
chance to realise how a product can help them personally, they're probably
not going to ever start using it... let alone dream of paying for it. 

Maybe my views are far off the mark. Maybe I've not understood things. But
then, at the gut level, I feel this free-beer-versus-free-speech kind of
analogy is fine for a country where money is not an issue, and you have
enough resources to drown yourselves under.

For a country like ours, as important as the 'free speech' aspect is the
'free beer' aspect of GNU/Linux. And why deny it's there? Paying Rs 100
for a CD with an entire OS on it is as good as free, isn't it?

Ever since I first heard of GNU/Linux (years before having the courage to
actually test it out, and now depend on it almost 90% on my desktop), the
thinking of volunteers who slaved hours for a nobler cause inspired
me. Till today, it shapes my approach to writing, my beliefs (or lack of
beliefs) towards subscribing to traditional copyright issues... and one
has probably gained a hundred times more than what one might have lost.

I'm not saying everyone has to turn volunteer. All that I'm saying is,
that millions of volunteer man-hours are *already* part of GNU/Linux. Why
hide this, and the fact that this makes it affordable to almost any beggar
who can lay his hands on a computer?

Flames welcome... I'm struggling to understand why I feel something's so
wrong with the free-speech-versus-free-beer argument in a
situation like what we have here. (Believe me, that's not because I'm
primarily a software consumer, and not a producer!) FN
--
Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783
BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org  * GNU-LINUX http://linuxinindia.pitas.com
Email fred@bytesforall.org * SMS 9822122436@attcell.net * Saligao Goa India