Darwin, CUPS, and WebKit are all open source because they absolutely had to:
Darwin -- borrows heavily on FreeBSD's kernel and userspace (BSD license, allows for closing the source, but would have destroyed adoption of the platform)
CUPS -- Free for years, closing the source would have caused a fork and lost all the free contributors.
WebKit -- forked from KHTML, LGPL licensed (does not allow closing of derivative works).
This wasn't a philosophical decision, this was a business decision. The open source philosophy is good as long as it pads the bottom line.
With a smartphone, the platform doesn't have a large open-source community, so Apple can impose its own beliefs on what openness and community should mean.
... my VCR spit out the tape about 5 minutes in, thus saving me from ever seeing any substantial part of the movie and wanting to claw my own eyes out.
That VCR no longer works at all, but I keep him around, just to stop by and say "Thanks" every once in a while.
7 years ago we put together a robot designed to survive a journey off of our own planet (secured to a fireball), through the vacuum of space (oxygen-breathing life need not apply), land on another planet (falling from miles above the surface) about which little is known (and nothing about the proper tire to use in a martian dust-pit). This tiny robot was hoped to survive for 90 days. It has survived for more than 2,500 days.
This tiny moment of reflection brought to you by the You Really Are Alive In A Great Period of History Foundation.
We made an iPhone app to post images to a WebGUI photo gallery, and we were rejected because the template for our photo gallery looks remotely like Polaroid pictures.
Because. Our. Template. Looks. Like. Polaroid. Pictures...
The DoS Embassy office and now the Office of Alumni Affairs has been funding open-source development for a few years now. As the contractor, we get their permission to contribute their features back to the main project (in this case, WebGUI).
IMHO, the US Department of State is ahead of the curve in Washington DC.
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Darwin, CUPS, and WebKit are all open source because they absolutely had to: Darwin -- borrows heavily on FreeBSD's kernel and userspace (BSD license, allows for closing the source, but would have destroyed adoption of the platform) CUPS -- Free for years, closing the source would have caused a fork and lost all the free contributors. WebKit -- forked from KHTML, LGPL licensed (does not allow closing of derivative works). This wasn't a philosophical decision, this was a business decision. The open source philosophy is good as long as it pads the bottom line. With a smartphone, the platform doesn't have a large open-source community, so Apple can impose its own beliefs on what openness and community should mean.
... my VCR spit out the tape about 5 minutes in, thus saving me from ever seeing any substantial part of the movie and wanting to claw my own eyes out. That VCR no longer works at all, but I keep him around, just to stop by and say "Thanks" every once in a while.
7 years ago we put together a robot designed to survive a journey off of our own planet (secured to a fireball), through the vacuum of space (oxygen-breathing life need not apply), land on another planet (falling from miles above the surface) about which little is known (and nothing about the proper tire to use in a martian dust-pit). This tiny robot was hoped to survive for 90 days. It has survived for more than 2,500 days. This tiny moment of reflection brought to you by the You Really Are Alive In A Great Period of History Foundation.
We made an iPhone app to post images to a WebGUI photo gallery, and we were rejected because the template for our photo gallery looks remotely like Polaroid pictures. Because. Our. Template. Looks. Like. Polaroid. Pictures...
The DoS Embassy office and now the Office of Alumni Affairs has been funding open-source development for a few years now. As the contractor, we get their permission to contribute their features back to the main project (in this case, WebGUI). IMHO, the US Department of State is ahead of the curve in Washington DC.