Mitchell Kapor Leaves Groove Over TIA

Deao writes "Mitchell Kapor, one of the founders of the EFF, has quit Groove. Supposedly he has left to pursue open source software interests, but insiders say he is unhappy with Groove's products forming a crucial part of the Total Information Awareness project. Read all about it at the NYTimes (Free Registration required)."

Comments

Reg Free Link

[Anonymous Coward]

Click here.

Re:do you think....

[Surak]

Yup. There's an (admittedly somewhat out of date) bio on his web site here. Mitch was pretty much the guy that ripped off Dan Bricklin's VisiCalc...errr..I mean designed Lotus 1-2-3 and co-developed it along with Jonathan Sachs.

Kapor wasn't always considered one of the good guys, either. Many in the software industry considered him to be somewhat obnoxious and it was widely grokked that at least some of Lotus' downfall in office suites can be attributed to Kapor's bad decisions. In retrospect, I'd say Microsoft just ate their lunch by being the first to market with a Windows-based office suite, personally.

But yeah, Kapor made his fortune by cocreating the PCs first killer app.

Thanks Google!

[FsG]

Thanks to this google link, you don't need to register: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/11/business/11PRIV. html?ex=1047963600&en=b851b67c98e9787e&ei=5062&par tner=GOOGLE

Re:If it is dubious, the choice is obvious

[MyNameIsFred]

For more info check out Who Was Martin Niemoller?. Two major points. First, he was a pastor who was held prisoner in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. Second, he was a major force behind the Stuttgart Confession of Guilt, in which the German Protestant churches formally accepted guilt for their complicity in Hitler's reign of terror. BTW, my original post is a quote from a speech he gave to the U.S. Congress in the late 60s.

Re:Ethics

[mdxi]

Wrong. It is possible, though difficult, to work in computers without supporting Microsoft. I do it every day, though I had to go 5 months without work to find a place where I could do it.

In my present job we use 100% Linux and OpenBSD, we write our systems in Perl, we are formally GPLing and releasing our work, we're gently pushing for our peer agencies across the state to join us, and they're starting to realize that not only have the best solution available, but that our methods give everyone the biggest payback for the least expenditure.

Also, I *do* believe that Samba and WINE shouldn't exist, in much the same way that the GPL shouldn't have to exist. In an ideal world, we all work together and horrible hacks like WINE aren't needed. More viscerally, I feel that people who take the easy way out and fall back to WINE and friends for everything are being spineless, opportunistic cowards with no real ethics at all. "But gaming!" is no excuse; either start coding or go get a console. "But Word files!" is no excuse; tell people to send you plaintext/RDF/HTML/CSV/any other standard, interoperable format. The network effect of Office won't go away until people stop reflexively duck-and-covering before it.

People say they wish they didn't have to put up with Microsoft. Well, that's only going to happen if you're willing to shut up and then put up, and work to make it happen.