Do Corporations Have Ethics?

[bruce at perens.com]

From: <mark at pc-intouch.com>
> The application of this to free-software advocacy is that we can use
> Eric's approach (which doesn't require any kind of ideological commitment)
> to persuade people to use the software and see that it works, after which
> they'll be more receptive to the ideology.

Do corporations have ethics, and can they be swayed by ethical arguments?
The answer is "sometimes", just as it is for individuals. I've actually
been very pleased by the response I get from most corporations regarding
free software _once_we_get_their_attention_.

But it's almost a moot point as long as individuals are important to the
Open Source movement. Some of the hugest corporations have been persuaded
to use OSD-compliant licenses by the argument "we won't work with you
otherwise", where working with us is clearly in their interest. It's up to
_us_ to be vigilant and to provide the ethics, and to provide the corporations
with motivation to go along with us for the sake of their bottom line. That
means we can't back down on our ethics: they won't hold the line for us, we
have to do it ourselves.

U.S. corporations are also very sensitive to publicity and will often go to
some length just to look good. This isn't the same everywhere, though.

	Thanks

	Bruce