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"Forking" Greatest Danger of Adopting Open Source?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the forking-is-better-than-abandonment dept.

TTL0 writes "In response to recent descisions in favour of Open Source in Israel (see here and here),Dr. Robert M. Sauer of the Department of Economics at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and president of the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies. has written a article saying that the hidden costs of OS add up to a higher TCO. However, The greater danger Sauer writes, is that of a OS project forking. "The forking of open-source projects occurs when passionate disputes between open-source software developers over product design lead to the splintering of projects into a multitude of varieties. With proprietary software, forking generally does not take place since development is centralized within a firm and disciplined by market forces."" I've always seen Forking as something of a blessing... it's the abandoned projects are the ones that are in danger.

8 of 471 comments (clear)

  1. FORK YOU, ISRAEL! by __aajqwr7439 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

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  2. first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    first!

    1. Re:first by Cyberax · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      No, just second :)

    2. Re:first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      nope!

      like so many things in your tiny little life...

      YOU FAIL IT!

  3. the greatest danger is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    not getting first post...ARGH!!

  4. Forking? Why the bias? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    What about spooning? I love a good spooning.

  5. Obligatory... by HoldmyCauls · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    1.I've found forking to be fun!
    2.How often does a coder get a chance to "fork"?
    3.Forking is like programming... make one mistake -- oh, never mind.
    4.A fork is a terrible thing to waste.
    5.Forking for fun and profit.
    6.1.Fork
    6.2.???
    6.3.{Profit||Baby}!!!

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  6. Re:bastard jews by popo · · Score: 0, Offtopic


    Dear Slashdot Moderators,

    Please control our friendly neighborhood neo-nazi's from posting their hate messages here.

    This poor neanderthal (above thread) actually thinks tiny, economically ravaged Israel is close to some sort of world domination.

    Thanks.

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