Forwarded message:
Date: Thu, 01 Oct 1998 22:33:24 -0700 From: "James A. Donald" <jamesd@echeque.com> Subject: RE: GPL & commercial software, the critical distinction (fwd)
In america the various mafias get plently of competition, mostly by means short of actual warfare. Coke is a free market except for police intervention, and the local church is most certainly not a monopoly.
Coke is a free-market? That's a laugh. I suggest you study the history of the Crips and related gangs, or the international Coke distributors. At no time was there more than a dozen or so groups and they worked cooperatively in many cases. As to the 'various mafias', in case you hadn't heard, they've been organized and integrated for about 30-40 years depending on who you ask. They cooperatively divide up territories and product lines between them to guarantee a minimum of violence and maximize profit for each member. However, I would lay dollars to donuts that if you were to go start your own family there would be very little consideration as to the consequences. Make no bones about it, if we're talking national or international crime it is most definitely organized and cooperatively arranged between a small set of players. That's a monopoly. ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------