Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ian Murdock: Linux is a Process, Not a Product

Posted by michael on from the apt-get-install-clue dept.

securitas writes "Debian founder Ian Murdock says that Linux is a process, not a product. He also says that the product mentality 'misses the entire point of Linux and the open-source development model.' Because Linux is made up of many different components developed on independent timeframes, Murdock posits, to refer to Linux as a product is to strip it of its dynamism and closes its inherently open nature. Instead, he says that Linux should be viewed as a shared platform and infrastructure technology, and that business models should reflect that or else Linux risks becoming proprietary, closed and just another cookie-cutter piece of software."

4 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The Process of Invention by ciphrix · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Now I'm hungry for cake.

  2. Preach it brother! by smittyoneeach · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Pulled down Apache 2.1 via anonymous CVS.
    I think I'll compile it for full debug, light it off, attach to it with gdb, and watch it handle an HTTP request.
    1) Why? I want to understand the nitty gritty, and
    2) I can. It's perfectly legal not to want to be a sheep all your life.

    Not to disenfranchise the sheep, mind you. I totally grasp the need of some to be sheltered from the gnarly details. Fine. Enjoy. Bother me not.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  3. This is Slashdot. michael is the editor. Note made by doc_traig · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Whether we like it or not. And apparently, your level-headedness and sensibility have been rewarded by a slashbot with a -1, Troll.

    --
    So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
  4. Re:Reminds me of XML by Pieroxy · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Can someone enlighten me on why I've been modded redundant?

    I hope meta-moderators are not on the same crack moderators are....

    --
    Write boring code, not shiny code!