Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 24th Mar 2009 18:02 UTC, submitted by google_ninja
Eric S. Raymond is one of the three big figures in open source, together with Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman. During a talk for the Long Island Linux User Group, he made some interesting statements about the GPL, namely that the GPL is no longer needed due to the way the open source movement works.
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RE[3]: Abolishing Misunderstandings
by JMcCarthy on Tue 24th Mar 2009 22:39
in reply to "RE[2]: Abolishing Misunderstandings"
Member since:2005-08-12
Not to play into the JPF v PFJ, but I disagree.
The motivation behind open source is its proponents believe it produces superior software. That's it.
The motivation behind free software is -- free software. Superior software would be nice, but the aim is to be free.
I don't really consider it an insignificant difference, but that's just me.
RE[3]: Abolishing Misunderstandings
by StephenBeDoper on Tue 24th Mar 2009 23:53
in reply to "RE[2]: Abolishing Misunderstandings"
Member since:2005-07-06
To be fair ... that is not really a valid criticism.
Open source software ~= everyone has permission to read and use the source code.
Free software ~= everyone will always have permission to read and use the source code.
A small difference, perhaps, but nevertheless an important one.
Open source software ~= everyone has permission to read and use the source code.
Free software ~= everyone will always have permission to read and use the source code.
A small difference, perhaps, but nevertheless an important one.
Oh I know, I was mainly just being a smart-ass.
That said, yours is probably the most succinct explanation of free software that I've read - and the most hyperbole-free.
RE[3]: Abolishing Misunderstandings
by sbenitezb on Wed 25th Mar 2009 02:42
in reply to "RE[2]: Abolishing Misunderstandings"
Member since:2005-07-22
Free software ~= everyone will always have permission to read and use the source code.
And GPL is not the only license able to assert this. In fact, any license that allows you to read source code and modify it, at least once in the time is all you need to make it free software. If you don't think so, I can point you to the Firebird database, once closed and known as Interbase by Borland, then open sourced (forever) and then closed again. The source of that first open release was forked to give life to Firebird, which is free. The license sucks horribly.
There is a false asumption that GPL gives more freedom. What it gives, if anything, is more contributors (even extorted ones). But this is also highly dependent on the project. I doubt Postgres has/had any problems with some company selling a fork (EnterpriseDB was the case, I think).
All in all: you get your freedom the first time the project is released. After that, it's up to the developers to keep maintaining it, improving and merging contributions. GPL guarantees further improvements are also released, even by greedy companies. But if the project is worth its salt, BSD/MIT licenses will keep any project running and updated.
Many say GPL keeps companies honest (by extortion, they aren't really honest, you just happen to have something they need, but it comes with a price to pay). I would prefer to think BSD keeps honest companies within a project, they really don't have to contribute, but they still do, so they are good and valuable. Sometimes it's better to acuse them of greedy players. Big companies don't like bad PR.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/25/13 0:45 UTC
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 23:59 UTC
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 22:33 UTC
Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Linked by Howard Fosdick on 05/24/13 21:41 UTC
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 14:44 UTC
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 23:22 UTC
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:04 UTC
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.More News »
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2007-02-17
To be fair ... that is not really a valid criticism.
Open source software ~= everyone has permission to read and use the source code.
Free software ~= everyone will always have permission to read and use the source code.
A small difference, perhaps, but nevertheless an important one.