Re: FREE hosting platforms with PostgreSQL, Java SDK, Tomcat, ecc.? - Mailing list pgsql-general

Dear David, Nicklas,

I think that this is not the right place where to discuss about this topic, but I have to try to give you an answer.

PostgreSQL is not only open source, like MySQL is, but also free. This means that people who don't develop neither a line of code of PostgreSQL (or just some few lines of it) can use it to do what they want, even money, without having the obligation to provide back 1 cent to the PostgreSQL community. That's incredible I know, but it is so. And why? I don't know exactly, but I know that there are several reasons that are not very "transparent". I can try to give my interpretation hopping that it is the real one or in any case thinking that it should be the correct one. If people who develop PostgreSQL make it free, people who don't develop PostgreSQL but who use it for their research projects or business can make available the results of their projects also to the developers of PostgreSQL, but overall to the worldwide community. And so, in case for example a developer of PostgreSQL or any other person should have a health problem, he can hope that his hospital uses the results of a research project got also with the help of PostgreSQL or of some other free technology.

I think the previous one is the philosophy that should be behind the words "open source" and "free". In all the other cases there are in my opinion interests that should be better clarified.

If we do something for free for other people, then they can do something for other people using for free our results, and so on...the alternatives are under our eyes, that is the jungle of the market and the worldwide crisis. So David, don't worry for my activity of research, instead you should be seriously preoccupied if you do business. Moreover, the fact that my project ended could be in case an additional problem for both of us and not only if we should have problems of health strictly inherent to the results of research coming from a possible development of my old project. Obviously, I hope no for all of us. :-)

David, Nicklas, if you make money by using PostgreSQL and you want to be really honest (as you claim honesty from me and from my work activity), please count that money and give the right percentage of it to the PostgreSQL community, but considering also who spent more time, resources like electric power, computer hardware, etc. than the others in developing it. In this way if you develop PostgreSQL, then you too can get your right percentage from you and from the other developers.

Dear Scott, Niklas, you are right, the components and the resources necessary to manufacture the solutions developed within the arduino project are not for free. Only the schematics, the gerbers, etc. are for free.

Finally, the world is full of companies that make available for free their hardware/software/human resources. Probably also you use them every day for free (e.g., the media in general) or you store your data for free in part of those resources (facebook, youtube, just to do general examples), but those resources are not really "for free", those companies find the way to gain a lot of money with the fact that you access to their resources.

In any case, excuse me if I have hurted your's feelings. My intention was not to ask for a free hosting platform (free stuff, etc.) to the PostgreSQL community, but I simply asked if the community knows anybody who provides a service of free hosting, supposing that in some way the provider of that hosting service would have earned his right income from me in some way (e.g. a banner installed on my PC or other similar business). Fortunately up to now I have never asked for charity dear David and I hope to have not to do it in the future.

Have a good dinner!

Fernando