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Explaining Open Source Software

Posted by michael on from the score-5,-informative dept.

scubacuda writes "Mark Webbink, Red Hat's general counsel, has written an informative article explaining free and open source software. Geared towards attorneys, he explains the various licenses and addresses several myths about OSS." One to bookmark.

3 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Eh? by Film11 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I see your point, but free stuff makes people like the product, unless the said product is crap, in which case he will know this and just give up. However, if the product is good and useful, people will donate. Its a fact of life, you see it everywhere like here and here. Both those sites give something for nothing, and they manage to make a living perfectly well.

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  2. That statement was not from the lawyer by Tim+Macinta · · Score: 3, Informative
    Personally if the pro Open Source lawyer is making statements like the above the document's credibility comes into question.
    The lawyer didn't make that statement. The closest he comes to addressing the quality of volunteer versus professional work is where he lists specific examples to dispel the myth that Open Source does not produce innovation. The boat analogy was not related to the paper, the AC was just making a joke - the paper is actually very well reasoned.
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  3. You missed the point ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 3, Informative

    You missed the point, there are two problems. One is source code, the second is unlicensed software. Having an unlicensed copy of a piece of software can be a huge legal issue. Not having a policy where software have to be approved in some formal way only makes the legal issue worse. "Big company think" is not universally wrong, occasionally they do the right thing. Whether the rare right choice being made was accidental or not I leave to a different discussion.