Re: Not "Satanism;" realism.

[stan johnson <sjohnson@gwi.net>]

** Reply to note from "Eric M. Bennett" <ericb@pobox.com> Fri, 1 Jan   
1999 21:37:17 -0500 
 Gates has also said that--despite his parents' wealth--his parents 
 didn't give him a big wad of cash, and that he won't give his children 
 a big wad of cash either. 
usw... 
 
The point was not to allege that Gates had a large amount of cash   
from his parents, but that he *did not* start with the 'near zero' you   
asserted. He had a very valuable 'in', and he had the coat-tails of IBM   
to ride on. Money is, contrary to the attitudes of many people, *not*   
the only value. You and the other BG, if I'm reading you correctly, have   
been trumpeting the value of intellectual property. I'm simply saying   
that Gates had *much* more than that, and from what I see, only had   
what IP he did have courtesy of other's naivete and other non-nerdish   
factors. He had lots, but IP was not part of it, except as borrowed or   
stolen. 
 
He must surely be the worst possible example to use in arguing the   
value of innovation and creativity, except in the sense of the con   
artist. He became the wealthiest person on the face of the planet, but   
mostly not through innovation and creativity, except as 'borrowed' or   
bought. We've been, months ago, through a long episode of people   
trying to think of even one meaningful creative innovation from the   
whole d****d company. Results: nada. Moral: if you want to become   
wealthy, get out of the programming business and learn the con. 
 
In the long run, thinking of the judgement of history, I would infinitely   
rather be a Linus Torvalds than a Bill Gates. One gave, the other took.   
One created, the other copied. I would rather take to the grave the   
appreciation that Linus has earned (or any of a myriad of other OS   
people have earned) than all the money Bill Gates has. One proves I'm   
a decent human being, IMO. The other proves I accreted lots of   
material property from others.  
 
I realize that many will not agree, but that's my POV. 


-- 
Stan Johnson    TeamOS/2
sjohnson@gwi.net