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How Microsoft-Yahoo Will Affect Open Source

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the something-to-think-about dept.

jammag writes "If the marriage of Microsoft and Yahoo were to be consummated, GNU/Linux would be hindered, argues Roy Schestowitz. Yahoo's funding of open source initiatives would dry up. Yahoo, which acquired Zimbra, would lose its love for the open source competitor of Microsoft Outlook. The list goes on..."

7 of 287 comments (clear)

  1. Ok by me by Hatta · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'll be over here using Thunderbird/Icedove. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I used any Yahoo service or product. If Yahoo disappeared from the internet forever, I don't think I'd even notice. What does Yahoo even do that people find valuable anymore?

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    1. Re:Ok by me by jmcbain · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Yahoo finance.
      Yahoo sports.
      Yahoo news.
      Yahoo movies.
      Yahoo TV.
      Yahoo weather.
      Flickr (I don't use it though)
      Delicious.
      Yahoo Answers.
      Yahoo maps.

      Funny how these appeal to 500M unique visitors each month but not to you. I think it's because Yahoo targets a specific demographic, normal humans, rather than the the 30-year-old burnt-out techies on /. or the 19-year-old college students on Digg or the who-knows perverts on 4chan.

  2. Re:Roy Schestowitz, take with prescribed NaCl by at_slashdot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about commenting the message not the person who brings it forth... does "ad hominem" sound like something you've heard before?

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  3. Cathedral and the Bazaar by tjstork · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So much for the cathedral and the bazaar.

    Alas, as Linux has gotten bigger and more complex, it is also requiring more capital to sustain itself as well, and capital means corporate funding. How ironic that the bazaar has grown to becoming a sprawling, flopping, traffic jammed, flea market, and suddenly key parts of the bazaar are suspiciously looking rather cathedral like (FireFox, the kernel).

    I predict that within a few years, Linux will grow to the point that its advocates will quietly abandon the collaborative, libertarian rhetoric that drove it early on, and instead turn more towards a quest for government funding along the lines of National Public Radio. It will continually seek corporate sponsorship, even as it decries their existence.

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    1. Re:Cathedral and the Bazaar by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How ironic that the bazaar has grown to becoming a sprawling, flopping, traffic jammed, flea market, You have never been to bazaar, have you?

  4. Re:Zimbra Admins by Dancindan84 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Quote from a Zimbra employee in that thread:

    The OSS version of Zimbra is just that, Open Source. Whatever happens there should be no change in that status. The joy of OSS is that if Microsoft/Yahoo discontinue support of Zimbra, someone else can pick it up. If there's a paid "corporate" version, I'm sure a company picking up would include support to migrate. I know that isn't ideal, but it isn't a reason for mass panic either.
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  5. (Off Topic) New Microsoft story icon submission by Robber+Baron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    With the impending departure of Bill Gates, I think a new Microsoft story icon is in order.
    For that I don't think we need to go much further than the picture at the top of this story...

    http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/yahoo-bid-bad-news-for-the-net-says-google/2008/02/04/1201973796947.html

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