(impossible, they don't employ any developers anymore...
*blink*
Talk about talking out of your nose. Where do you get off saying crap like that as if it had even a shred of truth to it? It is exactly this kind of statement, based in emotion and inaccuracy, that has made such a stink over something you clearly don't understand. Why dont you at least check your facts before running your mouth?
That is becuase it was brought to my attention that someone had posted about me and my involement with GCC. Today was the very first time I have ever read slashdot, and outside of this thread, most probably the last. I have a hard enough time keeping up with regular mail without being sidetracked here.
Not only are they trying to charge licensing fees for other people's IP -- without any authority to do so
For obvious reasons I cannot comment on this. I have an opinion but I cannot share it. All I can say is that from what I have read publically, SCO is not charging for other people's IP but what they believe to be their own. But this is off-topic. This thread was about my involvement with the GCC project.
I'm sure that as an individual, you're a person of enormous ability and integrity. However, you work for a company that has proven themselves time after time to be little better than whoremasters.
Since my brain was compiled with gcc -pedantic, I must point out that in effect, since they are my masters (at least at work) you are calling me a whore:) I'm just kidding trying to keep this light... dont take offence:)
And can you, in all conscience, argue that open source coders are making a rational decision if they voluntarily allow any of their efforts to be used by SCO, their employees, their customers or their developers?
Well, yes I can. There are hundreds of thousands of open source projects out there. Unless I am missing something SCO is not suing, nor have they stated any intention to, nor do I believe they ever would, any of those projects. Please bare in mind that the scope of the lawsuit is confined to breach of contract with IBM, not against the entire community. The fact that the community has missed this point and taken that lawsuit as having a much broader scope than it does is unfortunate.
However, I would like to address your actual question. I understand that people are upset with SCO, I even understand why. However, GCC is a program, it is not a political platform. That program runs on multiple architectures, one of which is SCO OpenServer. Even though the majority of my contributions are aimed at improving support for that platforms, not all are. Even if all my contributions were SCO-centric, they still have value beyond the scope of the individual platform. Each platform has its quirks and nuances, and when those quirks and nuances exposes wekanesses in the overal design of the program, addressing those weaknesses helps improve the program for everybody. Even though my contributions are SCO-centric, this too is not unusual. Linux folks tend to submit Linux-centric patches, FreeBSD folks submit FreeBSD-centric patches etc. It is simply the nature of the beast. In order for the open source model to really work, you generally take code where it is offered.
I am a geek. I love writing code, and I do so at every opportunity I get. The fact that I work for a company that is in disfavour with the community does not (or should not) have any bearing on contributions to open source projects. But look at some of the history of this particular project. At one point, Microsoft was public enemy #1, yet people still worked really hard to get things like DJGPP and Cygwin working, all the while trying to rally support against Microsoft. If you (or others) are real geeks, then I am surprised you care so much. Its all about the code and the joy of coding. All this political stuff makes my head ache:)
Having said that... I am off to do another make bootstrap on gcc 3.4:) Have an absolutely fabulous timezone.
Well sir, if you had ever actually contributed to the GCC project you would know that they have very strict rules regarding copyright assignment. I have a copyright assignment on file that covers just about every GNU project. Any work I contribute to GCC or other GNU projects is protected by it, and the FSF holds the copyright to my work.
If you ARE a contributor then you know this already and shame on you for trying to spread FUD. And as for who says they want my help... so far, they do. I was quite warmly welcomed to the GCC team, and I thank them for it.
Slashdot Mirror
*blink*
Talk about talking out of your nose. Where do you get off saying crap like that as if it had even a shred of truth to it? It is exactly this kind of statement, based in emotion and inaccuracy, that has made such a stink over something you clearly don't understand. Why dont you at least check your facts before running your mouth?
Kean
That is becuase it was brought to my attention that someone had posted about me and my involement with GCC. Today was the very first time I have ever read slashdot, and outside of this thread, most probably the last. I have a hard enough time keeping up with regular mail without being sidetracked here.
Kean
For obvious reasons I cannot comment on this. I have an opinion but I cannot share it. All I can say is that from what I have read publically, SCO is not charging for other people's IP but what they believe to be their own. But this is off-topic. This thread was about my involvement with the GCC project.
I'm sure that as an individual, you're a person of enormous ability and integrity. However, you work for a company that has proven themselves time after time to be little better than whoremasters.
Since my brain was compiled with gcc -pedantic, I must point out that in effect, since they are my masters (at least at work) you are calling me a whore :) I'm just kidding trying to keep this light ... dont take offence :)
And can you, in all conscience, argue that open source coders are making a rational decision if they voluntarily allow any of their efforts to be used by SCO, their employees, their customers or their developers?
Well, yes I can. There are hundreds of thousands of open source projects out there. Unless I am missing something SCO is not suing, nor have they stated any intention to, nor do I believe they ever would, any of those projects. Please bare in mind that the scope of the lawsuit is confined to breach of contract with IBM, not against the entire community. The fact that the community has missed this point and taken that lawsuit as having a much broader scope than it does is unfortunate.
However, I would like to address your actual question. I understand that people are upset with SCO, I even understand why. However, GCC is a program, it is not a political platform. That program runs on multiple architectures, one of which is SCO OpenServer. Even though the majority of my contributions are aimed at improving support for that platforms, not all are. Even if all my contributions were SCO-centric, they still have value beyond the scope of the individual platform. Each platform has its quirks and nuances, and when those quirks and nuances exposes wekanesses in the overal design of the program, addressing those weaknesses helps improve the program for everybody. Even though my contributions are SCO-centric, this too is not unusual. Linux folks tend to submit Linux-centric patches, FreeBSD folks submit FreeBSD-centric patches etc. It is simply the nature of the beast. In order for the open source model to really work, you generally take code where it is offered.
I am a geek. I love writing code, and I do so at every opportunity I get. The fact that I work for a company that is in disfavour with the community does not (or should not) have any bearing on contributions to open source projects. But look at some of the history of this particular project. At one point, Microsoft was public enemy #1, yet people still worked really hard to get things like DJGPP and Cygwin working, all the while trying to rally support against Microsoft. If you (or others) are real geeks, then I am surprised you care so much. Its all about the code and the joy of coding. All this political stuff makes my head ache :)
Having said that ... I am off to do another make bootstrap on gcc 3.4 :) Have an absolutely fabulous timezone.
Kean
Well sir, if you had ever actually contributed to the GCC project you would know that they have very strict rules regarding copyright assignment. I have a copyright assignment on file that covers just about every GNU project. Any work I contribute to GCC or other GNU projects is protected by it, and the FSF holds the copyright to my work.
If you ARE a contributor then you know this already and shame on you for trying to spread FUD. And as for who says they want my help ... so far, they do. I was quite warmly welcomed to the GCC team, and I thank them for it.
Kean