The money value of time

This is a real estate decade, so all of you should understand the time value of money.

You borrow $1 million to build a project. The money costs $100,000 a year (if it's a risky project). But if you sell that project in a half-year, the money only cost you $50,000. And if your margins are approaching 100% (as it is on many projects, thanks to immigrant labor) why not?

Money is a bargain the less time you have it.

To this I want to add the Money Value of Time.

Time is money, yes, but money is time, too. This is especially true in anything having to do with the Internet. Which means it matters in open source.

Software, if it is a capital cost, needs to be counted alongside the cost of the people building or using it. Proprietary software companies have long used this argument to justify their prices and terms.

The equation works better with open source. Costs are lower, and all software can go to everyone. (I just noted this with regards to JasperServer.) Of course, open source economics aren't all gravy. Service and support yield less income than license fees. Margins for producers are squeezed.

But software is just part of a larger economy, and if more widely-distributed software means more productivity who can complain?

Just remember that it takes time to learn, time to apply, time to patch and time to improve any tool, even an open source one.

Don't forget the money value of time.