Re: Earn $$$ writing free software.

[Scott Robert Ladd <coyote at coyotegulch dot com>]

Toon Moene wrote:
> OK, so now the whole world knows that LLNL, LANL, Sandia and two other 
> labs are looking for, and willing to pay for a free Fortran 95 compiler.

I'm not certain it was a deep dark secret, just obscure. I wouldn't have 
found it without your original post, and I'm always hunting for Fortran 
stuff on the web.

> An obscure (in the Web sense) report at
>
> http://www.llnl.gov/asci/pathforward_trilab/OSSODA_PF_RFI_V9e.pdf
>
> suddenly bursts onto the scene because it might mean that 
> <some-free-software> might get a funding.

With an emphasis on "might." I was hoping GCC "might" benefit from any 
available monies.

> Let's make one thing clear from the beginning:
>
> I'm *not* in it for the money.
>
> [ yes, that's a play on a Zappa quote ]
>
> I am not interested in the money, other than if they can send it 
> no-strings-attached so that I could spend the rest of my life developing 
> free software on a nice, Pacific, island (unmarked $100 bills, please).

The same here. I like making money; heck, I have a wonderful menagerie 
and family to feed. My original motivation was somewhat altruistic -- 
and I should have know better. Altruism is seldom rewarded...

> However, we're talking about tax-payer's money and as a civil servant, I 
> *have* strong feelings about spending that.
>
> For one thing, I don't like government agencies spending money due to 
> ill-advised (or ill-researched) needs/opportunities.

Exactly. I have a strong sense of patriotism when it comes to the 
National Labs; I know people who work at Los Alamos, and used to live in 
its shadow. If they are going to spend tax dollars on Fortran, I would 
hate to see them start an entirely new project because of misperceptions 
of gfortran and GCC.

> That's why I wrote what I wrote on the fortran@gcc.gnu.org list:
>
> http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/fortran/2003-11/msg00052.html
>
> which started this avalanche ...

By the Gods, I would *never* have asked my simple little questions had I 
know it would cause an avalanche (especially since this one has landed 
on my head).

Didn't Gandalf say something about "like a pebble that causes an 
avalanche?" One simple question, and I get every agenda in the GCC world 
rolling down on me like a horde of orcs...

I think I'll go watch The Two Towers with my wife, and ignore this whole 
mess for a while. My apologies if I somehow created a tempest in a stewpot.

..Scott


--
Scott Robert Ladd
Coyote Gulch Productions (http://www.coyotegulch.com)
Software Invention for High-Performance Computing