Subject: open source 
Fri Jun 05 10:30:44 1998



> > > Unfortunately, most IT managers, CIOs, etc that I've spoken with
> > > don't seem to have even heard of it. They know the various
> > > commercial flavours of Unix - Solaris, AIX, etc - but not Linux.
> > 
> > Out here, Linux is getting increasing amounts of press coverage
> > in IT magazines these days, and with the official linux support
> > on their product lines by Intel and Corel, who knows ...
> 
> Just today an article appeared in one of the best IT magazines
> here, reporting a big morale boost for Linux by Sun's decision
> to join Linux International and support porting Linux to the
> Ultrasparc platform.
> 
> Seems like we're showing up above the corporate radar horizon.
 

just out of curiosity, has anyone else been to the Open Source
site?   the group is dedicated to making a case for free
software which business types can understand.

    http://www.opensource.org/


their postulate is that the software industry is really a
service trade that's trying to do business under a manufacturing
business model.   the inaccuracy of that world view is what's
made most of the really ugly stuff in the current software
market possible.

they grant that there's a competetive advantage to keeping a
technology proprietary for a little while, as its being
invented, because there's no sense in feeding your competition
on your own research.   once competing products exist, though,
the advantages of proprietary control turn into liabilities, and
strong advantages develop in relation to opening the source:

    1: stability.   if everybody in the world is pounding on your
    code, they're gonna find bugs you never thought to test for.  
    they'll also fix them for you, and your product becomes more
    stable in the areas most popular in the marketplace.
    
    2: trust.   one of the reasons people hate Microsoft is its
    history of undocumented function calls that only insiders know
    about. even if they completely rid themselves of that practice,
    it'll take a very long time for third-party developers to
    believe it.   if your source is open, nobody can accuse you of
    fighting dirty.
    
    3: legality.   using Microsoft as an example again, they keep
    saying that they're not a monopoly, just a normal company that's
    made it to the top by being the strongest competitor in the
    market.   and the popular reaction has been roughly, "yeah.. and
    the guy with loaded dice is just a better gambler."   with open
    source, it's a LOT harder for anyone to call you a monopoly, or
    claim you have unfair advantages in the market.
    

it's a very interesting site, and i especially admire its effort
to state something that we geeks like instinctively in terms a
that will speak to the soul of a businessman.   if nothing else,
it's a fantastic lesson in communication for tech types.