Interview: Ask Bruce Perens What You Will

Bruce Perens is a computer programmer and one of the most important advocates for the open source community. He co-founded the Open Source Initiative with ESR and has worked towards reforms of national and international technology policies. He is an amateur radio enthusiast, and has pushed for open radio communication standards. He is also our interview guest today. As usual, ask as many questions as you'd like, but please, one per post.

Comments

Unbalanced

[Hentai]

Can you please convince ESR to change his name to Eric CloseParens? It's been bugging me for like, decades.

Er...what's left in "open source" to talk about?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

Having lived through the entire lifecycle of "open source," it seems like its place in development communities and businesses is well-established, with a mix of different licensing and deployment models for whatever anyone wants to do.

So...is there really anything interesting left in "open source" to talk about? (Software patents, maybe, but even that's picked up some case law.)

Question

[u38cg]

What do you think of Slashdot Beta?

Re:Question

[aardvarkjoe]

Given that Bruce restarted Technocrat.net in response to the Great Slashdot Beta Uprising, this question is certainly not offtopic.

systemd

[Hognoxious]

systemd - why?

Newton

[Major Blud]

After the Newton School shooting you posted on Slashdot that you would be willing to give up your second amendment right to prevent something like that from happening again. What other rights would you be willing to give up?

Re:Newton

[Major Blud]

You think the government actually keeps you safe and free?

That's cute; you just keep believing that.

How do we address the weaknesses of Open Source?

[UnknownSoldier]

I'm an Graphics + UI + UX expert and use open source when I can (I also contribute to a minor open source emulator.)

1. What can we as a community do to address the weaknesses of Open Source?
That is, I see time and time again in open source:

* Functionality not on par with certain commercial apps,
* Bad UI,
* Poor documentation such as man files that don't have any freaking examples,
* A million and one clones that duplicate basic functionality

2. How do you respond to trolls who call open source "open sores" ?

3. How do we overcome the perceived image that "you get what you pay for" That is, some people think that if it is free it isn't worth anything, or it is only "worth" something if I must pay $$$ for it ?

4. Finally, is there an up-to-date list that shows all the various open source "equivalents" of commercial software?

Cheers

--
Only Cowards Censor

State of the Union address / 16 this year

[Martin S.]

The OSI is 16 this year and in many ways has experienced a difficult childhood but has grown stronger as a result.

What challenges do you forsee out child for the future?

Re:Newtown

[Lord Kano]

What makes him think that he has the right to decide that for me?

LK

Automation Technology Displacing Tomorrows Worker

[SethJohnson]

I'd like to know your perspective on the future need for programmers while automation technology continues to displace workers in many industries.

Obamacare

[MouseTheLuckyDog]

Should the software used for Obamacare be open source. I don't just mean the website, but also things like the software controlling pharmaceuticals, X-raya, MRI, maintaining health records etc. ?

Have you and Lee patched up yet?

[bluefoxlucid]

Have you patched things up with Lee yet or are you still having a falling-out? Fans are eagerly to see another collaboration, perhaps a new steak sauce or rub.

Credit for the OSS movement

[Anonymous Coward]

Some years ago, around 2006, I attended a talk from Eric S. Raymond at a venue large enough to accommodate his massive ego and still leave room for attendees. He informed that he had essentially given HP their Open Source strategy. Your name was not mentioned once. I am curious what were your discussions like at HP during your time there, specifically in regards to the ideals of Free Software versus Open Source. My question specifically:

What legal and financial hurdles and impacts, if any, did HP (and other companies) face when deciding between Open Source and Free Software models? I.e., what proprietary assets/IP could not be completely "freed"? What were the savings/costs associated with the decisions?

Re:if you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fe

[Lord Kano]

If you're so civilized, why are you having such problems with people shooting each other?

LK

Q3 for BP

[postbigbang]

What are your five biggest fears for safety on the Internet today, and where do you believe responsible admins should put their efforts for those five?

Thanks.

Moderation

[symbolset]

Do you find your views on blended/mixed license models evolving over time? Is it time to lay down the pitchforks some of the time?

Open source HARDWARE

[unixisc]

What are your views on Open source hardware? Is it as important as open source software, or less important, or not important at all?