Should all Software be Freeware?

Question

Linux being freeware allows anyone to download and change the software for free. This has produced all the different distributions of Linux that there are. Microsoft and Apple on the other hand produce software that is to be paid for and they do not allow change on their software. I believe software capabilities have boomed because anyone can access other peoples work and advance it with their knowledge. Obviously, not all companies want their software to be edited. Should all Software be Freeware?

Answer 1

Not freeware, but open source with copyrighted source code would be a good idea.

Answer 2

If all Software would be freeware plenty of people would be without a job: general software used by a huge amount of people like windows, linux and similar basic software should be free in order for everyone to be able to be a creator or coder himself. But when it comes to more specific codes like Games, Webapplications, Tools for designing... the market always needs new money in order to accelerate innovation.

Answer 3

Who wants to put that much effort into a project and not be paid? Linux is great but has taken...years... to get where it is. It's also depended on the good will and free time of its contributors; you can't always rely on this.

If everything was free, we'd either have to rely on ad revenue (the devil's path), or not be paid at all. What's the point?

Answer 4

"Consumers will keep you in line." Good point. If there's no demand then price is irrelevant. However, if demand is high you can charge what you like, well, within reason, because: "Consumers will keep you in line".

However, Linux is Free yet Microsoft rake in the money. Where do you wanna be? Oh, I don't know. I want to do the right thing; but I also wan't more money. It's a toughie!

Answer 5

It is endowned upon us that we have equal rights. This is why we are charged for a service. We want equal treatment. You give me $5 and I give you a meal. This is Capitalism. If you think that the meal is more important that your $5, you will exchange. Technically Free services can produce equal treatment as well. I give you a meal for free. in this situation you get a meal and I (could) get enjoyment in doing a good deed. This is the variable that @Bragshot is talking about. I could or could not get enjoyment out of giving you a meal. This will determine if I give you a meal or not. Same with software. If all software is free, I may or may not want to help the future of software depending on if I will get enjoyment out of it. With money involved, I can gauge how much I really don't want to or do want to do this service. I can charge low if I want to do this service or charge more if I don't want to do this service. Overral, I believe software should be however much you see fit although the consumers will always keep you in line. I was just curious what other thought about it.

Answer 6

The vast majority of web servers run on free and open source software. The operating system that powers most of the internet is FOSS. It has taken decades for Microsoft to produce products anywhere close in reliability and *still* for critical services many people don't trust closed source software - for good reasons. I've tried windows and it's kind of ok but Linux is much nicer to use and easier to understand.

Answer 7

It would seem that if all software is Freeware, then hardware would be twice as expensive or companies who make computers would not load software on it to start.