Re: [aclug-L] Linux on store shelves

[phrostie <phrostie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

funny thing about all this talk about
commercial software and fragmentation.

before i got involved in linux,
i was of the mind set that only commercial software was good.
before i understood how the linux develoment model worked
i thought that stricked control was best.
.
.
.
time and time again i have discovered that
the things that confuse me the most about linux
produce the things that i like best about it.

these are the things that it's critics rag on the most.

i gave up trying to argue because i can't really explain it.

i have one best rebuttle.

it works for me

phrostie


Carl D Cravens wrote:

> On 19 Mar 1999, John Goerzen wrote:
> > I don't understand, and I think it's because of vagueness.  What is
> > the problem with commercial interests in Linux?  Inherently, there is
> > none.  There are plenty of companies that are out there writing GPL
> > software.
>
> The only real problem I see is fragmentation... competing standards where
> competition isn't necessarily good for the user community.  It can happen
> without commercialization, but it's far more likely to happen with
> commercialization than without.  When there's money involved, people tend
> to stop cooperating.  Corel is working on their own interface.  Maybe this
> is a good thing... but on the other hand, they seem to be working on it in
> private and aren't getting the input of the user community the way an Open
> Source project does.  And I think that's what makes Linux so appealing to
> many people...  the users made it.  The users, who actually use it,
> decided what needed to go into it.  Not all of us were involved, of
> course, but there's something satisfying about most Open Source software
> because it wasn't created with marketing and money foremost in mind.
> Usability, interoperability, and meeting actual needs are the driving
> forces of most Open Source software... not the need to out-shine a
> competitor so the authors can stay in business.
>
> Linux is much like the net itself.  As it becomes more popular, it becomes
> more commercialized.  Commercialization brings us a lot of benefits...
> with the net, we got a huge amount of growth, more free things than we can
> imagine, and things like online shopping.  But it has its drawbacks... we
> also got a billion clueless newbies, spam, and those people who view the
> net not as a community and a tool, but as a resource to exploit for
> personal gain regardless of the effect on that resource.  Linux will see
> much of the same... growth, greater acceptance, and people who are willing
> to exploit Linux for their own personal gain, regardless of how
> inappropriate their actions are for the user community.
>
> --
> Carl (raven@xxxxxxxxxxx)
>
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--
phrostie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Oh I've slipped the surly bonds of dos
and danced the skies on LINUX silvered wings.
http://www.cottagesoft.com/~phrostie/cad-tastrafy/cad-tastrafy.html



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