Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 22nd Dec 2006 11:14 UTC, submitted by brewin
Hans Reiser, the prominent Bay Area Linux programmer charged with murdering his wife, says he's seeking to sell off his open-source file system company, Namesys, to help pay mounting legal costs. In the first interview since his arrest, Reiser spoke this week about the future of his company and his legal travails from within the walls of Santa Rita Jail, where he is being held without bail.
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Member since:2006-07-12
I agree with some of your points as Reiser4 could simply be forked and carried on under the GPL. As mentioned in the article though the company also own some proprietry software (such as a file compressor) that could not be forked.
Hans also isn't the lead programmer (at least according to the namesys website) so development on the FS could continue.
I would say though, that ReiserFS does indeed have some brand recognition, particularly in techie circles, and if the benchmarks for Reiser4 are to be believed then it would seem a good chance to own a good file system at a good price...
Edited 2006-12-22 12:27
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Member since:
2005-07-08
I can't figure out why anyone would want to buy Namesys. It has no brand recognition outside of its DARPA sponsorship, it doesn't have a lead developer, and the medium-term prospects for Reiser4 uptake continue to be grim.
The only reason to buy an OSS firm is to acquire its human and/or capital assets. Reiser4 has great potential, but you're not buying Reiser4: anyone can take up its development and sell commercial plugins or support services.
If Namesys came with Hans Reiser, and if Hans Reiser wasn't in prison awaiting trial, then it might be a good investment. Without Hans, Namesys has nothing.