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    SubjectRe: [OT] Re: Troll Tech [was Re: Sco vs. IBM]
    Stephan von Krawczynski wrote:
    > GPL has an inherent long-term strategy, you are talking of short-term, Larry.
    > That does not match. If I am using only GPL-software I know I am able to use it
    > as is in five years from now. If I depend on being nice to commercial
    > companies, it may well turn out, that they are not being nice to me no matter
    > what I do.

    A very technocratic view, to be sure. Source code is no guranatee of
    future portability or viability; for the vast, vast majority of users --
    we do care about those, don't we? -- source code is useless.

    You or I might be able to keep a source-based program going past the
    interest of its creators -- but most computer users lack the skills and
    tools to equal our prowess.

    Scan SourceForge and Freshmeat, and you'll find an amazing number of
    dead and dying projects, without support or documentation. The printing
    press didn't automatically impart literacy upon the masses, and the
    source code for "free" software promises nothing about future support.

    I'm not saying that commercial companies are any more reliable -- what I
    *am* pointing out is that "free" software makes no guarantees, either.

    > In other words: it's all about being free or being dependant on goodwill.

    Free software is very dependent on good will -- the good will of
    developers to continue maintaining and updating their software for free!
    A commercial software company only survives if it provides value to its
    customers -- and that value includes future support.

    Most "free" software exists to scratch an itch; if the programmer stops
    scratching, users are out-of-luck. Unless, of course, they hire someone
    like you or me to maintain or update an abandoned program... ;)

    Commercial software is no better or worse then its free counterpart;
    they merely operate under different rules. While I love free software
    and strongly support its existence and growth, I also am cognizant of
    its weaknesses. To ignore those weaknesses requires either fanaticism or
    willful ignorance.

    --
    Scott Robert Ladd
    Coyote Gulch Productions (http://www.coyotegulch.com)
    Professional programming for science and engineering;
    Interesting and unusual bits of very free code.

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