My first thought as I read this was that Sapran doesn't understand macroeconomics, free enterprise, and the effect of market forces on software development. Secure software sells. Businesses are willing to pay a lot more money for something that they percieve will cause them less headache over time.

But on the other hand, Sapran does grasp microeconomics. Individual people are cheap. They will buy something that they think they need, but they will buy it for the low low price if £3.50 if they can, in spite of the fact that it has holes the size of Wembley Stadium. This is especially true of something that does something that they can't see, like antivirus software.

So if we are really going to have this discussion again, let's turn it on its side. What motive does the Open Source developer have to make a secure product? or more to the point, what motivation does the Open Source developer have that the commercial developer does not also have? Honor? Pride? Reputation? Those exist on both sides of the ledger. I postulate that the only difference between the two is that the commercial developer has the additional motivation of profit.

Also, Marx was an utter fool who had no understanding of human nature, but that is a discussion for another list. }8-)

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