Does the python library of Google Data API is truly free?

[Eduardo O. Padoan]

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 10:28 AM, Kless <jonas.esp at googlemail.com> wrote:
> I understand very well that a service is a software which is accessed
> through a network.
>
> And the description given on Wikipedia [1] is "A 'Web service' (also
> Web Service) is defined by the W3C as "a software system designed to
> support interoperable Machine to Machine interaction over a network."
>
> Now, to ending with this. I understand that (almos) everybody is pro
> Google (and anti Microsoft), thinking that they have given a lot of
> services for free. And it's very hard that people understand my
> thinking.
>
> All that "free service" has a great price, that are the rights
> about those data, and when Google want can to disable the free access
> to that information.
>
> People don't realize that it's one more a company and like so it has
> only an end, that is to obtain the greater number of benefits which
> will be distributed between his shareholders. Within any years Google
> will be as hated as Microsoft.
>
> At least I try to use the less possible those services than limit my
> freedoms about data that has been contributed by me and another users.
>
>
> [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_service
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>

It is not a pro-GOOG/anti-MSFT child-thing. Google is a for-profit
company. They are in it for the money. There is nothing wrong with it
in a capitalist world, if you play by the rules.

Also, services like this are scarce resources, it demands storage
space, processing power, bandwidth, and etc to provide it, so it makes
absolute sense that one would want money to keep providing it.

Software per-se isn't scarce resources  - you can copy it infinite
times (but the work of writing it is, that is why there are
programmers payed to write Free Software).

Now you seem to be saying that if Google doesn't provide a scarce
resource to you for Free (as in "Free Beer"), they will be hated just
as you seem to hate Microsoft. I would hate Google if, after proving
so much good stuff as free software, they gonne bankrupt for providing
services without restrictions, completely for free.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarcity

-- 
 Eduardo de Oliveira Padoan
http://www.advogato.org/person/eopadoan/
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