[linux-audio-user] Re: Free Software vs. Open Source:Where do*you* stand?

[Gene Heskett]

On Wednesday 22 February 2006 00:46, Lee Revell wrote:
>On Wed, 2006-02-22 at 06:40 +0100, Cesare Marilungo wrote:
>> Ok, let's try to take the problem from another direction.
>>
>> What do you think is the reason some talented coders and some
>> influential thinkers are putting a lot of efforts into writing and
>> maintaining open source software if it is not the belief that
>> sharing knowledge, solutions, tools and such is the way to go?
>>
>> Why Paul Davis started writing Jack and Ardour instead of writing
>> another commercial DAW and then try to sell it to a publisher?
>
>Because they choose to do so.  It is equally legitimate to choose to
>develop proprietary software.  I happen to believe that in the long
> run open source will prevail over proprietary solutions on its
> technical merits.

Unforch, the sheeple aren't impressed by technical merits, only in 
lowest common denominator usability.  We're coming along in that 
department I believe, but after puttin OOo on a friends winderz box and 
his having a heck of a time recovering his financial data from the 
default settings, I will not do that again until he asks.

>Just because we believe that open source is a better model, does not
>entitle us to force that on everyone.

Exactly, Lee.  We can quietly evangelize a bit, and when their box falls 
prey to the latest winderz exploit, we can sympathize and comment that 
it didn't bother my systems in the least, but we cannot in good 
concience insist that they change to linux without being willing to 
take over maintainance on that box for the 2-4 years it will take while 
they learn linux.

Particularly when linux is such a moving target even for those of us who 
*think* they are smart enough to run it.

And of course all that isn't worth a bucket of warm spit when an 
important to a business web server gets rooted, and it was running 
linux.  It just happened to a friend of mine from all the symptoms he 
is reporting today.  The PHP worm I think.

>Lee

-- 
Cheers, Gene
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