> There are no moats to being a plumber, a baker, a restaurant...
This line is interesting to me, because actually I think there _is_ a major moat there: locality. I don't disagree with the rest of your comment, but for those examples specifically a lot of the value of specific instances of those business comes from their being in your neighborhood. If I live in Toronto, I'm not going to fly a plumber from Manhattan to fix my pipes; if I want a loaf of sourdough, I'm not going to get it from San Francisco, I'm going to get it from the bakery around the corner; I might travel out of town for a particularly unique and amazing restaurant, but not every week, I've got solid enough options within a ten minute drive. Software is different because that physical accessibility hurdle doesn't exist.
What you're describing is less a statement on moats and more a statement on markets. Plumbers in one location share the market (the potential clients in that area), and as the parent comment states, there is no moat in that given market. A moat is a barrier to compete within a given market. So if something made it really difficult for a new plumber to serve an already-served clientele, that would be a moat. But individuals on the other side of the planet are by physical encumbrance not actually clientele... they're not even in the market.
This line is interesting to me, because actually I think there _is_ a major moat there: locality. I don't disagree with the rest of your comment, but for those examples specifically a lot of the value of specific instances of those business comes from their being in your neighborhood. If I live in Toronto, I'm not going to fly a plumber from Manhattan to fix my pipes; if I want a loaf of sourdough, I'm not going to get it from San Francisco, I'm going to get it from the bakery around the corner; I might travel out of town for a particularly unique and amazing restaurant, but not every week, I've got solid enough options within a ten minute drive. Software is different because that physical accessibility hurdle doesn't exist.
Rest of this is spot-on though