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Sun's Schwartz Attacks GPL
jskelly writes "Sun Micro President Jonathan Schwartz
attacked the GPL at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco yesterday.Other than the same old arguments (you can't make it proprietary later)
he adds that it imposes on developing nations
"a rather predatory
obligation to disgorge all their IP back to the wealthiest nation in the world" -- but fails to mention that the converse is also true: the wealthiest nation in the world is similarly, under the GPL, forced to "disgorge all its IP back to the developing nations" as well. Duh!"
..i see your swartz is less open than mine..
Did anybody look at the headline for this and immediately think that Sun was being run by Dark Helmet?
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
And we are working *hard* to drive ourselves into obscurity.
Sun has lead the field for so many years that they really believe the crap they publish in the trade press.
It is sad to see a technology giant succumbing to what could qualify as a form of corporate Parkinson's disease.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
Netcraft just confirmed it. It's a train.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
A titan in the world of proprietary sales-only code does not like the idea of competition from useful programs being "purchased" for free.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Our Schwartz is bigger than the Sun's.
I think you shot the gift horse in the mouth after you closed the barn door.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I find it really amusing that the QOTD at the bottom of screen was:
He missed an invaluable opportunity to hold his tongue. -- Andrew Lang
Really I do...
But DAMMMIT!!! They have got to start keeping these people on mahogany row quiet.
That seems to be Sun's biggest problem at the moment. Allowing these people to just shoot from the hip in public.
It really turns a lot of people in the open source community away from what is actually a very open source friendly vendor.
Elmer FUD
I agree totally, and I will say more. I believe a major cause of the lack of respect for Intellectual Property in the US (at least) are public libraries, and to a lesser extent public museums and parks. While these institutions are certainly legal under current law, what impression is one to gain from them? Why, none other than the idea that we all have the right to enjoy other peoples' property, any time we feel like it, for FREE! How can we allow children to be brought up with such an un-American belief? We need a call to action, and I propose that laws aren't enough. We must have a Constitutional Amendment, banning public libraries, public museums, and abolishing the national and state park systems, with the land to be sold for $1 an acre to companies equipped to develop that resource. There can be no genuine argument against this, as it is for the public good; just as the civic-minded citizens of Kansas (where I reside) have just enacted an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage, also for the public good. This decision is now being celebrated by church ministers across the state, also as it should be. I realize some readers of Slashdot are not Christians, but to those among you who do not follow the Lord and live in immorality I say only, make no mistake -- you are a tiny, tiny minority of the general population. To the rest of us I say, be vigilant! We may all sometimes feel an impulse toward tolerance or sharing, but we must be strong. These deviant urges are not part of the American Way, and worse, certainly not part of the Christian Life.
Wow. If he thinks GPL software is unfair to developping nations and redirecting their resources to the wealthiest nations in the world, I wonder what he thinks about commercial software.