Symbiosis in LOs LO11097

rbacal@escape.ca
Thu, 21 Nov 1996 22:52:53 +0000

Replying to LO11084 --

On 21 Nov 96 at 9:46, Mnr AM de Lange wrote:

> Michael raised the following problem (my interpretation):
> How to 'pay' adequately another person for 'goods' which he/she
> has made available to you, especially in the dimension of
> 'virtual reality or cyberspace'.

This is curious timing since I am redesigning our web page, and was
just writing the brief intro that explains why I post a lot of
information free (and yes, I need to sell things to eat).

My view is that I am willing to share a good deal of what I have
already completed, provided that doing so will not send me to the
poor house. But more important...I look at the materials I produce as
having had an intended audience, and since it is written to help
people learn, it would be somewhat odd for me not to make things
available for free. We write so people will
read.

Second, I look at the articles we make available as grown-up
children...I brought them up, and in a sense, they don't "belong" to
me anymore (it's an analogy, not literal).

Some of my "children" (books) I treat differently, partly because the
effort to make them available in the virtual world would be high (and
consequently expensive).

Finally, there is one proviso...I do not think it appropriate for
someone to profit monetarily at my expense (although this is an
interesting issue), so I allow (upon request) reproduction of all
posted material for learning purposes.

I decided to approach this subject from the mundane to the
theoretical, but I am sure that most of us can draw the philisophical
implications. Not the least is the symbiosis.

Robert Bacal, Bacal & Associates, rbacal@escape.ca
Join us at our Resource Centre at
http://www.winnipeg.freenet.mb.ca/~dbt359
Phone: (204) 888-9290

-- 

rbacal@escape.ca

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