If you write good software and don't make money, it's a hobby. - Jason Carreira

If you write bad software and make money from it it's a scam. - Jason Carreira

If you write bad software and don't make money from it it's Web 2.0. - Jason Carreira

If you write bad software and make billions its called a monopoly - Brad Nickel

If you write decent software and make billions its called a monopoly. If you make decent software, overcharge people for stuff & call yourself a rebel, you're 'cool' - Yuvi

I love it Yuvi. I think I would go with mediocre on the former. I was trying to be funny. - Brad Nickel

"...trying to be funny" - Me too! :D - Yuvi

What makes anyone think software has anything to do with 'industry'? 'Industry' makes me think of steam engines, giant hammers, and people handling huge vessels of molten metal with roughly made tongs. Do we have a math 'industry' or a novel writing 'industry'? - Robin Barooah

Software IS an industry... someone has to pay for the toys we use and pay people so they can build stuff and still eat. - Jason Carreira

@Robin, "industry: Commercial production and sale of goods." Number one definition. And I don't think most coders want to be grouped with the starving artists of the "novel writing 'industry'" - Cyndy

@Jason, @Cyndy - sure I agree it has to be paid for, and we collectively are still figuring out how that happens (by advertising? by lots of indie developers in the app store?) , and I wonder whether the metaphors we use hold us back - e.g. platform came from the auto-industry, and so does much of our thinking about components. - Robin Barooah

OMG I think my head will explode if I hear "advertising" one more time. Why do people expect music and Web content and software and movies and television should be free? Why aren't groceries free? Why aren't clothes free? Or houses or cars? For some reason, if people can't hold something in their hands, they don't want to pay for it, and want someone else to foot the bill. - Cyndy

@Robin, I think that may be the most useless response ever. Just because you can't figure out how to make money doesn't mean it can't be done or the models are outdated, it just means you should be working for someone with an ounce of business acumen and let them set the direction. - Jason Carreira

@Cyndy that's right -- immaterial subjects shall be subject of different rules otherwise we will end up with guys at edge of desert selling us sand but prohibiting us to do same (simplified model of modern intellectual 'property')... if you need another Bill Gates or Steve with his Apple crap - it's ok if they do it per every person but no law to protect what they do... Mind you, my paycheck comes from SW job. - A.T.

@Jason - are you trolling, or did you really not understand what I was saying? The opinion I expressed is one I happen to believe is a factor in the industry as a whole, and I genuinely wonder whether we collectively will do better as we are able to escape development metaphors and management modes that were developed for industrial production. I'm not the only one who thinks this ( e.g: http://www.brightcove.tv/title... or http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows... ) - Robin Barooah