Lee Revell wrote:
On Tue, 2006-02-21 at 22:23 -0500, Ross Vandegrift wrote:
A song, novel, poem, picture, all have representations that are not
integers. In particular, they are objects (though I contend
that the relevant fact is that they are not integers).
Sorry I beg to differ, ever hear of an "MP3"?
Lee
In fact sharing mp3 files shouldn't be illegal. It is another example of
artificial scarcity.
Every sincere developer will tell you that there aren't many different
ways of opening a WAV file, mixing two audio streams or write a low pass
filter. Maybe, the creative part of programming could be in the way you
organize the code or in the aesthetics of your data structures etc.
Likewise, the technical aspects of the various tasks in CS are (or
should be) taught at the universities. It is a science indeed. Consider
than before gnu/Linux you didn't have the possibility to study the
source code of a full fledged operating systems.
That's the strength of open source. It is made by people who understand
this simple fact: intellectual property is an oxymoron.
Copyright is important for the GPL. And GPL has been crucial for the
success of open source.
But copyright is important just because we live in an age where it seems
to be the only coin of the realm.
c.
--
www.cesaremarilungo.com
