Selling Software (was: ...lack of corporate support)

[Jonathan Hutchins]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Duston, Hal" <hdusto01 at sprintspectrum.com>
> Well, I think part of what is missing here is that the
> majority of code written is never sold.  I have been
> programming for money for nearly 15 years and not a
> single line of code I have ever written has ever been
> included in any software that was ever sold.

> Five years at the county gov't, never sold a bit of SW.
> Five years at a blood testing lab, never sold a bit of SW.
> Two years at KCPL, never sold a bit of SW.
> Two years at Sprint, never sold a bit of SW.

This is an excellent point - most of the programming I've seen done isn't
for software to be marketed, it's custom software for a specific site or
operation or company.  Once you move up from PC's to Mini's and Mainframes
you see even more of this. CICS, BPICS, A400's - at most you're using a PC
as a terminal emulator, and all of your company specific apps are completely
custom.

(This often means that they're completely crap, too, like the KC Public
Library's DRA database, but...)

Pooling customization programming as Open Source would be a great idea - it
would be like development libraries, a leg up for anybody working on a
similar project.  If you make the basics easier, the same amount of manpower
takes the application farther.

My company implements a standardized installation of NT, Office, etc. with a
pretty locked-down configuration.  As it gets more and more difficult to
track and control the "features" of MS products it's going to make more and
more sense to do a custom Linux desktop instead, with even better
integration of our custom applications that are accessed via 3270 emulation.
More and more Linux expertise is seeping into the Computer Room at the same
time, as us geeks tinker and learn on our own, making it easier for
companies to start considering Linux.

We're officially "no Linux Allowed", but I'd give good odds that by the time
we would be implementing Windows XP as a Desktop OS, we'll at least have
officially considered using Linux instead.