This is just software folks trying to speculate about economics and not finding the right sources to make sense of things.
The KEY distinction between software and house is abundance vs scarcity.
Once software and house both exist, software can be used all at once by every single potential user. But the house can only be lived in by a few people at a time. Everything else about the economic distinctions flows from these facts. The "marginal cost" idea is correct but is a symptom of the fact that houses are *rivalrous* and software is not.
I gave a talk about this recently with further context at LibrePlanet (so it's aimed at software-freedom advocates, keep that angle in mind): https://framatube.org/w/ssYsun1bEXuL1nm5cT9ckw
The KEY distinction between software and house is abundance vs scarcity.
Once software and house both exist, software can be used all at once by every single potential user. But the house can only be lived in by a few people at a time. Everything else about the economic distinctions flows from these facts. The "marginal cost" idea is correct but is a symptom of the fact that houses are *rivalrous* and software is not.
I gave a talk about this recently with further context at LibrePlanet (so it's aimed at software-freedom advocates, keep that angle in mind): https://framatube.org/w/ssYsun1bEXuL1nm5cT9ckw