Well, yes there is a price to IBM's commmitment to OSS. By extending IBM into the fold there is a possiblity that they could drop it's OSS projects sometime, but that can't affect the viability of them. They could change a OSS project they started to closed source, but I'm sure it would be re-implemented in an open source fashion by someone else, if it was really important. They could totally walk away, but that wouldn't matter, because Linux/OSS would continue anyways, just like it always has.
So, the real price is dealing with the fear of accepting IBM as a partner, even though it may have a sordid past, and is a succesful products & services business that generates large revenues, and that can be scary to developers that are used to creating on their own, in their community. Sure, IBM would look to find angles for it to get income from Linux based platforms, but so is every other Linux/OSS company.
IBM == Nazis? Come on, IBM is a company that knows what has to be done to build stable tools and create stable products/ services to sell to customers. They have nothing to gain by hurting the OS community, and wasn't it IBM, thorugh their creation of the PC and it's OPEN arch, that allowed us to have cheaps computers that were usable? Sure, they did try that silly MCA thing, but they have realized the advantages standards and OSS, and are a great addition to the community.
I kind of dislike the phrase "open-source monopoly", and I don't believe that the total infastructure for the internet (or any other platform) will be totally open source. ALthough the use of OSS will continue to expand, I hope it can co-exist with commercial closed source also. I can't believe all companies will adopt OSS or just fall by the wayside.
This is true... Here at my University, documentation is reserved for those who like to play with word processors. I always make sure I comment my code as much as needed, since I get large amounts of extra credit for it. Can you imagine? extra credit!
Slashdot Mirror
Well, yes there is a price to IBM's commmitment to OSS. By extending IBM into the fold there is a possiblity that they could drop it's OSS projects sometime, but that can't affect the viability of them.
They could change a OSS project they started to closed source, but I'm sure it would be re-implemented in an open source fashion by someone else, if it was really important. They could totally walk away, but that wouldn't matter, because Linux/OSS would continue anyways, just like it always has.
So, the real price is dealing with the fear of accepting IBM as a partner, even though it may have a sordid past, and is a succesful products & services business that generates large revenues, and that can be scary to developers that are used to creating on their own, in their community. Sure, IBM would look to find angles for it to get income from Linux based platforms, but so is every other Linux/OSS company.
IBM == Nazis? Come on, IBM is a company that knows what has to be done to build stable tools and create stable products/ services to sell to customers. They have nothing to gain by hurting the OS community, and wasn't it IBM, thorugh their creation of the PC and it's OPEN arch, that allowed us to have cheaps computers that were usable? Sure, they did try that silly MCA thing, but they have realized the advantages standards and OSS, and are a great addition to the community.
Goody's Headache Powder
I kind of dislike the phrase "open-source monopoly", and I don't believe that the total infastructure for the internet (or any other platform) will be totally open source. ALthough the use of OSS will continue to expand, I hope it can co-exist with commercial closed source also. I can't believe all companies will adopt OSS or just fall by the wayside.
This is true... Here at my University, documentation is reserved for those who like to play with word processors. I always make sure I comment my code as much as needed, since I get large amounts of extra credit for it. Can you imagine? extra credit!