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Has Open Source Lost Its Halo?

Posted by Zonk on from the master-chief-awol dept.

PetManimal writes "Open-source software development once had a reputation as a grassroots movement, but it is increasingly a mainstream IT profit center, and according to Computerworld, some in the industry are asking whether 'open source' has become a cloak used by IT vendors large and small to disguise ruthless and self-serving behavior. Citing an online opinion piece by Gordon Haff, an analyst at Illuminata Inc., the article notes that HP and IBM have not only profited from open-source at the expense of competitors, but have also boosted their images in the open-source community. The Computerworld article also mentions the efforts by the Microsoft/Windows camp to promote open-source credentials: '[InfoWorld columnist Dave] Rosenberg is more disturbed by the bandwagon jumpers: the companies, mostly startups, belatedly going open-source in order to ride a trend, while paying only lip service to the community and its values. Take Aras Corp., a provider of Windows-based product lifecycle management (PLM) software that in January decided to go open-source. Rosenberg depicted the firm in his blog as an opportunistic Johnny-Come-Lately. "I'm not impressed when a company whose software is totally built on Microsoft technologies goes open-source," said Rosenberg, who even suspects that the company is being promoted by Microsoft as a shill to burnish Redmond's image in open-source circles."'"

2 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. Re:GPLv3 by KDR_11k · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    RMS thinks freedom starts with dropping cluster bombs. He could be a politician.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  2. Re:Nice Self Serving Sophistry You've Got There by fotbr · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Ah, but when we don't want to switch to GPLv3, the RMS-is-GOD-and-can-do-no-wrong crowd attempts to pound us into the ground because our idea of freedom is different, and we're exercising that freedom by refusing GPLv3.

    Seems kind of self defeating and hypocritical by so-called supporters of "free" software.

    IF refusing to use anything GPLv3 means no more linux for me, well, thats fine. I'm sure Apple or Microsoft would be happy to have my business back.