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I’m terribly sorry, but I couldn’t quite figure out just what it was you were proposing. Is it some sort of library that can be shared across enterprises? If so, that is going to be a non-starter for many, many applications due to the proprietary nature of much commercial software. Are Apple and Microsoft going to share their programming secrets with one another? Wells Fargo and Citi Bank? You get the idea.

It’s a bit like another much more prosaic issue which is ride sharing. Anybody can sit on a crowded expressway in rush hour and see car after car with exactly one occupant each and think to himself or herself - Gee what if there were 3 or 4 occupants to a car - wouldn’t that be better? And also to think that they had the “answer” while everyone who came before was “stupid” for not figuring this out. But still, people still drive their own cars and probably will continue doing so.

There are plenty of situations in which the blocks you suggest do not exist; within very large businesses for example. And there are situations in which industries could not exist without cooperation; telecommunication for example. There's a whole host of military applications; both within the technical assets of a country and with allies. And there are of course, the Internet stereotypical applications in retailing. But the technology itself would not limit its own use to freebee sharing type scenarios. You could buy or license the software components you get from third party developers, for example - even do that automatically according to a set of rules - or subscribe to a service. ....

There's nothing to suggest that I need be concerned with whether Microsoft will ever start giving software away - however - I could mention that they do it all the time. The of course sell some products, but then offer large amounts of upgrades, add-ons, and customizations without cost. The EU stepped in a couple of years ago and forced them to stop giving so much away, because it violated their anti-trust laws.