[Dixielandjazz] Giving it away! NYTimes 10-26-2013 Mike Vax and Ed Middleswart respond

[Gary Lawrence Murphy]

I can tell you all where this notion of "give it away" comes from, and
why you should care:

Do you like using this Internet?  Is it useful for you?  You pay an
ISP for the phone access to it, but do you pay for the Internet
itself?

no, you don't.

Back in about 1994 I think, I was working with Bell Canada on their
Sympatico service, and I was tasked with writing the Sympatico home
page, the default landing spot for a million initial subscribers.  I
suggested they use open source free software. The chief architect was
aghast, the CTO was indignant. "If something goes wrong, who do we
sue!" shrieked the architect, "where do we get 4am support" added the
CTO. "Bell Canada does not USE free software!" they both insisted.

Ok, I said, then that's it.  I folded my papers and stood up, "We can
no longer use the internet.  The Internet itself is free software,
from BIND that does hostname resolution to the very code in Microsoft
Windows that runs your ethernet connection (written by Crynwyr
Software, as free software) you ARE using free software if you use the
Internet." and I tossed a copy of Forbes magazine on the table, the
issue with Linus Torvalds on the cover, bid them all a good day and
went home to Sauble Beach.  Two days later I got a nice apology and
the green light for my project.

The internet is founded on the *free* sharing of its own content, and
this is no idle magazine article, it is no 3 minute composition or the
click of a camera shutter, this is *millions* of lines of really
difficult computer code, enhanced and debugged by countless tens of
thousand of people around the world. And you use it, you like it, you
depend on it, and it was their gift to you, no strings attached (the
GPL license that covers most of the code expressly says so, the only
obligation is that you cannot claim to own it or prevent others from
having it for free) -- what you *pay* for is merely the gatekeeper,
and the only people he pays is the local telco ... who wrote *none* of
this code, they only strung the wires and connected the routers
(which, largely, run free software inside them)

So it stands to reason, doesn't it, that if great multitudes of highly
trained engineers would spend their whole careers enabling this vast
wonderful machine for the benefit and enrichment of humanity, if they
should ask for no recompense, that they should then tend to ask the
same of others?

You may not agree with this.  You may side with the NYTimes and Sony
and Disney (who is still milking Mickey Mouse), and I'm not saying it
is good or bad that you do, but I *am* saying that if you think people
should not gift others with their gift, then please, for the sake of
your own integrity, stop using the internet.

and have a real nice day ;)

On 10/27/13, Norman Vickers <nvickers1 at cox.net> wrote:
> To:  Musicians & jazzfans, DJML and Pensacola Mencken list
>
> From:  Norman Vickers
>
>
>
> This resonated with Mike Vax, professional trumpeter/bandleader/jazz
> educator from Prescott, AZ ( when not traveling)
>
>
>
> Ed Middleswart, consulting engineer of Pensacola responds.  But his point
> of
> view was from that of amateur artist ( amo, amas= love) rather than
> professional.  All of us will admit that's different.
>
>
>
>
>
> I've collated responses for your convenience.  Thanks, both.
>
>
>
> From: vaxtrpts at aol.com [mailto:vaxtrpts at aol.com]
> Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 3:07 PM
> To: nvickers1 at cox.net
> Subject: Re: Giving it away! NYTimes 10-26-2013
>
>
>
> I LOVE this essay!!!
> It is exactly what I have been preaching for nearly 50 years.
> Where I live in North Central Arizona is one of the WORST places I have
> ever
> seen for this mentality.  Everyone wants you to give away your music (art)
> for "such and such a good cause."  And the problem with living in an area
> of
> many retired people is that there are many retired musicians who will play
> for free or practically nothing, and then brag about how many "jobs" they
> are doing.
> I may have mentioned this before, but our City Fathers do not help the
> situation.  From June through early September they have FIVE nights a week
> of free entertainment in our city center.  They have created a whole cadre
> of people who don't buy tickets to music events because they can get it for
> "free" downtown.  They put on a Bluegrass Festival and a Christmastime
> evening event where 5000 people crowd into downtown because it is FREE!
> And
> - they are proud of the fact that NONE of the musicians get paid.  There
> are
> around 100 musicians who perform in all the downtown businesses and
> "donate"
> their time.  Now right in front of every band, there is a tip jar.  NONE of
> that money goes to the musicians.  It all goes to a local foundation who
> can
> then look really great by donating that money to education.  But it is done
> ON THE BACKS OF THE MUSICIANS!!
> As part of the summer series, there is a "jazz" night every Tuesday
> evening.
> I put "jazz" in quotation marks because in the last couple of years some of
> that music is VERY "iffy............"  Why?  Because the City Fathers, in
> their infinite wisdom decided that even though they had paid the musicians
> for about 20 years, they would just stop doing that.  It was basically
> presented by a new city employee who was trying to look good by saving
> money, I think.  Well, when that happened, many of us said "no" to the
> invitations of that employee to play for free and put out a tip jar.  A tip
> jar at a city sponsored event????  Shouldn't that be a bit embarrassing to
> both the city and the musicians?
> And then there is the local restauranteur, who is basically a good guy and
> loves jazz, who decided that he would pay his friends to play these Tuesday
> night concerts, but not "spread the wealth" to other musicians.  And this
> person even had the gaul to tell me that I wasn't "dedicated enough" to
> supporting the local arts scene because I spoke out against what was
> happening with the Tuesday Night Jazz Series.  (So let's see - putting on a
> jazz festival for 13 years, playing free concerts for over 3000 students in
> schools in the past three years, and many more such things - mean that I am
> not a good guy for not playing for free on Tuesday nights???  Whew!)
> Well, I could on on even more, but I think you get my "drift."
>
>
>
>
>
> Mike Vax
> Friends of Big Band Jazz, Prescott Jazz Summit,
> Stan Kenton Alumni Band
> www.mikevax.net
> www.bigbandjazz.net
> www.prescottjazz.com
> www.getzen.com
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> _____
>
> Ed Middleswart wrote:
>
>
>
> Norman....
>
> To me art has always meant something one does first out of a love or joy of
> uniting with a form of expression.  A writer creates a poem or the words of
> a song or a painter his painting first out of a love for the medium and the
> desire to share this with others.
>
>
>
> This is obviously not the same as hauling brick or drilling teeth.
>
>
>
> So I don't think it is reasonable to equate art with work and thus the
> writer's comments (and yours re musicians playing for free) miss the boat.
> But I agree that when art morphs to a way of making money the love offering
> bit might get old fast and seem unreasonable.  Ed
>
>
>
> ps.. I have heard some damn good street musicians playing without any
> donation boxes or buckets and seemingly doing it joyfully.
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> ________
>
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz
> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
>
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>


-- 
*Teledyn Addendum: teledyn blogspot ca*
*eso: **EighthStreetOrchestra blogspot ca*