Freely redistributable information

[cbmvax!uunet!gnu.ai.mit.edu!grackle!bob]

   Neither Nora nor I know C, and we're putting our learning effort
   into Lojban.  I am happy of other people write software in C, but
   then Nora and I cannot help support and maintain it.  At 'a buck a
   copy' for the author, most authors won't either.

You are missing Dave's point.  In the Unix/Internet world freely
redistributable software is often *better* supported than
monopolistically restricted software.  

There are two reasons: First, with freely redistributable software,
you can always hire someone to fix it.  With restricted software, you
may have a support contract, but that does not mean the company will
fix *your* bug.  The managers of the monopoly may decide for good
business reasons to devote their resources to satisfying another,
perhaps bigger, customer first.  I have often been told by people who
are supposed to support me that they hope the bug fix will be included
in the `next major release, next year'.

Second, as a practical matter, you often do *not* have to pay for
maintainance.  People on the net often fix bugs and post patches.
People often make enhancements and post them.  People work on long and
complex programs as well as simple programs.  People enjoy doing this.

Note that in the PC world, much so-called `free software' does not
come with sources and is not distributed in a community of people who
read and change the sources and post fixes and enhancements to a
network.  You may be basing your judgement on experience with
shareware.  The shareware I aquired when I had a PC seldom came with
sources.  Mostly, it was not freely redistributable.  Furthermore, and
critically important, I was not part of a network on which people
posted fixes and improvements.  

   This is not to say that the 'cheap software' route isn't the way to
   go, but ... I think LLG should build a reputation for quality

The phrase `cheap software' suggests a mistaken comprehension of the
problem.  In my experience, the only way to get reliable, high quality
software is to get lots of people to test it and to suggest fixes to
it.  A single person or a single company does not have the interest or
the time to do the job.  Indeed, it was this discovery that got me
interested in freely redistributable software in the first place.  I
was using a $50,000 software package (plus expensive support
contract).  I came upon another program that turned out to have fewer
bugs, that got those fixed quicker, and which did more of what I
wanted to get done than the monopolized package.  This discovery
amazed me and got me thinking.

   Dave also doesn;t answer the question of how we pay the bills.  

Yes, he did.  He suggested that the best thing to do is to get more
people to use lojban, and that sales would follow.

However, it may not be a short term vrs long term issue at all.

For one, most potential lojban customers are not on the Internet or on
other good networks.  I suspect that most potential customers expect
to buy floppies and printed manuals.  

Of course, if you make the software freely redistributable, this means
that customers who find lojban interesting will be free to sell or
give the software to their friends; they, too, will be free to go to a
printer and print manuals, advertise them and sell them.  However, in
practice, you are not likely to lose much business this way, if you
offer reasonable service at a good price.  People will come to you not
only because they have heard of you but because they want to support
the Logical Language Group.

If you sell restricted the software, your honest customers will not
provide copies to their friends.  Some of those friends will buy from
you and become loglanists.  But others won't bother.  You will have
lost the opportunity.

I have found that people like to buy well printed manuals and standard
distributions from the `official source'.  This means that even if you
provide sources to the documentation, you can still sell lots of
manuals.  Even if you provide sources to programs on-line you can sell
lots of tapes.

Also, as a business matter, as Dave says, you cannot charge a high
price for lojbanic materials and expect to sell many copies.  For most
potential customers, at this time, lojban is a speculation.  This
means that lojbanic materials have to be sold at a price that people
are willing to gamble.

I suspect that Dave's $19 suggested price for a set of floppies is
reasonable for the PC world.  A 250 or 300 page book might go for the
same amount.

Consider what happens if you sell restricted software.  Suppose the
Logical Language Group sells 500 $19 items in the next year.  This
would not generate much money to pay a programmer to maintain the
software.  And you want to take some of this money for LLG, too?

It is better to make the information freely redistributable.  You will
still sell to the PC world at $19 because those people are not on the
net.  At the time time, you will get many more people spending a bit
of time maintaining the software and porting it to new platforms than
you would get from from one person spending a bit of time maintaining
it.

Also, you will still sell nine-track tapes and QIC-24 cartridges to
the Unix world.  There are people who will buy from you as a way to
support you.  There are people who want to get a complete, standard
distribution.  And there are many people who prefer to buy a nicely
typeset, bound manual rather than print out the manual themselves and
read it in a three ring binder.

Let me return to the question of numbers: numbers of people.  Not many
people know about lojban and not many are interested.  We want more
people involved.  One of the better ways of attracting and keeping
people's interest is to bring them into a community.  Few lojban
people live close enough together physically to make a physical
community.  But the Internet provides a virtual world in which people
who are physically separated from each other can form an electronic
community.  This means that people who are physically distant from me,
such as nsn@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au, can write messages that catch my
interest.

Out of the people lurking in a group, some small percent may buy from
the Logical Language Group; some smaller percent may donate money.
What can happen (it has happened with a group I started), is that a
virtual community can unexpectedly `take off'; it can grow; new people
can take over the tasks of explaining things to newcomers and of
providing archives.  My hope is that happens with the lojban group.

My hope is that in a year or two there will be several lists:
lojban.novice, lojban.writings.original, lojban.grammar.expert,
lojban.software, etc.  Again, the best way to bring the lookers-on
into the thick of it is to get them learning vocabulary and grammer;
and on a computer network, this is best done by providing
documentation, lists of words, and interactive teaching programs.

And with a constituency will come support.

    Robert J. Chassell               bob@gnu.ai.mit.edu
    Rattlesnake Mountain Road        (413) 298-4725 or (617) 253-8568 or
    Stockbridge, MA 01262-0693 USA   (617) 876-3296 (for messages)