Re: Microsoft Is Set to Be Top Foe of Free Code

From: Eugene Leitl (Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Fri May 04 2001 - 03:21:22 MDT


On Fri, 4 May 2001, Eliezer S. Yudkowsky wrote:

> It looks to me like this attack will provide Open Source a much-needed
> profile boost as the Internet bubble continues winding down. Then

Open Source doesn't need a profile boost. It would have a negative impact
on software quality. It already grows too quickly for its own good.

> again, I bet a lot of companies and paradigms said something along the
> lines of "Microsoft's attack will only make us stronger" just before
> they were killed and eaten.

Open Source is not a company. It is an international movement with a
considerable, and mounting momentum. Because it is autocatalytic in
regards to information delivery, software generation and distribution and
doesn't appear as a blip in legal, economical or physical space it is
largely immune to attacks conducted in that space.

Obviously, Open Source is here to stay. Whether there will be companies
riding on that momentum (or other companies mounting memetic attacks
against companies who are riding that momentum in an attempt to enhance
their market position) has largely footnote character.

Now the next thing to tackle would be Open Source hardware. It's already
there, but it needs lots of work still.



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 10:00:02 MDT