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Freeware:Article in Red Herring

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the stuff-to-read dept.

Booker writes "Red Herring magazine has an article about Open Source software from a business perspective. They seem to think that it will NOT be the Next Big Thing in business, but it's interesting reading. There are quite a few articles in the "Related Links" section at the bottom, including ones about Open Source startups and Open Source hardware, and an article by ESR. "

2 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. Please read the article by sheldon · · Score: 2

    I read through the whole article, and they make some very good points. I notice a tendency of Linux fanatics to not read articles and understand what the author is saying before jumping to flame them.

    And their summary really put everything into perspective:

    "There is nothing strange or magical about open-source development from a business point of view; it should neither be shunned as impractical nor embraced as a panacea," Mr. Hecker concludes in his white paper.

  2. Some Observations by Effugas · · Score: 2

    A quick observation--I'm working on a paper that actually will end up rebutting this article to a degree, so I'll leave most of my commentary to that essay when it is complete.

    At one point in the article, it is noted that open source software ceases development when interest wanes or when the developers close the source to take it commercial.

    This is not entirely valid.

    While the original developer retains the right to use his own code in closed source software, I do not believe that he(or she) may use submitted code in that software--at least not under the GPL license. However, even if one looks at other licenses, it is simply not possible for the OSS license to be "revoked"--once code is put out to the public, it can not be taken back nor reigned in.

    Sendmail, of course, is not(to my knowledge) covered under GPL, so that probably explains why its makers can use publically submitted patches in a private product. The most famous example of the latter condition I refer to above is the FLTK affair, when Digital Domain ceased the (L)GPL status of future versions of one of their coders' graphical toolkit. While the software is still being developed in house at DD, the older, pre-recall versions still remain and will always remain under protection of an OSS license.

    An interesting contrast can be drawn with closed source software, which increasingly is including time limits on usage in the fine print. While you can never lose the right to use OSS software, certain popular programs are legally limited to only twenty five to thirty years of usage.

    That's one way to look at value-per-dollar...

    Yours Truly,

    Dan Kaminsky
    DoxPara Systems
    http://doxpara.netpedia.net




    Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.