FreeOS Opinions

Linux : Opinions : The Linux case
Posted: ( Mon 30th Jul 2001 01:49:24[AM] UTC )
"It was early '99 when I made the jump. I installed SuSE 6.1 and started to poke around. It was like I was a kid in a candy store with no spending limit. Oh sure, there were some things I didn't quite figure out right away, but I had time, lots of time. We got the source code too. It was like walkin' into a room and findin' a safe on the table, with the combination written on the door. I had Linux workin' for me and I had everything I needed, and more. No blue screens, no rollin' over and dying just from clickin' the mouse button too many times or lookin' at too many fonts," says Paul Tatham as he talks about his shift from Windows to Linux.

Linux : Opinions : Open Sourcers shy from criticism
Posted: ( Fri 27th Jul 2001 12:33:20[AM] UTC )
A WIRED reporter says open source advocates don't like to hear people who disagree with them, and uses an example from the O'Reilly Open Source Convention to make his point. Regular reader Anthony Awtrey provided us with the link and a brief response.

Linux : Opinions : The weakest link
Posted: ( Wed 25th Jul 2001 04:13:34[AM] UTC )
Stirred, at last, by the assault of Code Red and SirCam, Dennis Powell says enough is enough: "Even if Linux users aren't pushing these malicious bits of code across the Internet, we still suffer from their effects. It's time to politely demand our Microsoft-using friends and acquaintances either change their operating system, or take their machines off the 'net." A polite sample letter is included.

Linux : Opinions : Our Open Source future: It's just a matter of time
Posted: ( Mon 23rd Jul 2001 02:10:07[AM] UTC )
"There will soon be a major change in the way people think about computer software. Currently when looking at software purchases, one might ask questions like: How much does it cost? How many clients can legally be connected simultaneously? Can I use it on my desktop and laptop systems without paying extra? Those questions will become a thing of the past, as Open Source licenses make them irrelevant. Don't think it's possible? Remember that every industry occasionally has a major shift. The computer industry has certainly had shifts. These shifts involved changing the software people used and the way they thought about their needs. The other major reason this change can and will occur is the power of openness," says Micah Yoder.

Linux : Opinions : Free Software: The right to be a charitable community
Posted: ( Mon 16th Jul 2001 09:47:58[PM] UTC )
"The real issue is often missed in the argument over the GPL vs a BSD-style license as advocated by Microsoft: Am I allowed to make something and give it away without the threat of someone exploiting my work? Is a "community" allowed to be charitable without having their charity abused? Can a group of people collaborate and create "Intellectual Property", put it under a license that insures that it can be shared with anybody? Is this legal? Does it have precedent in America (any country for that matter)? The reality, more basic and not all that glamorous for the people wishing to retain "control" over "Intelectual Property", is that communities hold strong societies together. Communities rarely intersect with corporate interest. They can do so at times (witness Red Hat for example), but it's not a necessity," says Paul Ferris.

Linux : Opinions : The support call `hownotto'
Posted: ( Mon 16th Jul 2001 09:16:52[PM] UTC )
When Michael Hall made a routine call to technical support for a laptop purchased from a major (and allegedly Linux-friendly) hardware vendor, the first piece of advice he got was "dump Linux." Learn about how to make all the wrong moves in this informal "tech support HOWNOTTO:"

Linux : Opinions : Damaging the proprietary software market with GPL
Posted: ( Sun 15th Jul 2001 08:54:08[PM] UTC )
"Microsoft understands that GPL is a marketing scheme aimed right at their heart. First, GPL code will always result in a far earlier implementation of a new software idea to hit the market. Second, it `scorches the earth' because once the implementation exists, it kills competitive development that's based on a proprietary model. The situation has already done lots of damage to proprietary software patents. GPL makes it extremely easy to do prior art searches. As a result, patent challengers are having an easier and easier time getting patents invalidated. While this is overall a good situation for the software market, it can be damaging to a single software company that was planning on using a software patent on something obvious to get a lot of money."

Linux : Opinions : Don't believe everything you read
Posted: ( Sun 15th Jul 2001 07:54:49[PM] UTC )
"The specialized computer press really doesn't understand Linux. As a matter of fact, quite contrary to the rules of logic in this case, the popular press, epitomized by Websites like CNN's, actually does a better job at reporting fairly on the Linux phenomenon. However, when you go over to the press that's supposed to know what it's talking about when it reports on IT developments, the fairly well-researched and objective writing about Linux gets pretty scarce. I'll chalk the reason for this up to the meal-ticket-syndrome," says Michael J Jordan.

FreeOS : Opinions : Why electronic voting software should be free software
Posted: ( Tue 10th Jul 2001 10:32:56[PM] UTC )
This article explores why there are strong technical, legal and political reasons for Free Software technologies being the only ones considered for use in legally binding votes conducted with Internet or other electronic technologies.

Linux : Opinions : Linux is full of fanatics, potential
Posted: ( Tue 10th Jul 2001 10:21:50[PM] UTC )
"Be careful what you say about Linux. Say the wrong thing, truth or otherwise, and you risk agitating an underworld of zealots. It was never clear if theirs was a true passion for the free operating system or simply a dislike for Microsoft, which they felt Linux would destroy"

FreeOS : Opinions : Why should you care about open source?
Posted: ( Mon 9th Jul 2001 07:57:51[PM] UTC )
"Despite the prominence of the Linux versus Windows struggle, the issue of whether or not source code should be publicly available concerns much more than competing operating systems."

Linux : Opinions : Tempest in a Caldera
Posted: ( Fri 6th Jul 2001 08:50:38[PM] UTC )
"Caldera must prove that its new approach offers value and stability to corporate users trying Linux for the first time, and it needs to support its extensive reseller channel at least as well as SCO did. If the company can adequately tackle these two significant challenges, the insults won't matter. Caldera will have carved out a nice little piece of the Linux-in-business market."

FreeOS : Opinions : Open source the answer to dog-eat-dog security
Posted: ( Thu 5th Jul 2001 07:17:50[PM] UTC )
"In this scenario, if you don't trust the application's vendor you can discard their finished program, look through their source code, then recompile it to your own satisfaction. In this way security holes can be detected much quicker, too, the code being examined by a whole developer community instead of just a single vendor."

FreeOS : Opinions : Call my bluff - how smart is reverse engineering .NET?
Posted: ( Wed 4th Jul 2001 10:05:37[PM] UTC )
"So who's calling whose bluff? An intriguing game of chicken is enveloping Microsoft's plans to port its C# language and run-time to BSD, with software libre leaders vowing to give the Beast a taste of its own embrace n' extend medicine."

Linux : Opinions : Does Linux need marketing?
Posted: ( Wed 4th Jul 2001 10:04:16[PM] UTC )
"I have just read an incredible article about an exchange between Caldera's Ransom Love and Richard Stallman. Forgive me for interjecting myself into another's fight, but I think this has gotten so tied up in "personality" that it is time to interject the little guy back into the discussion."