Total War; SCO is only the beginning

[Peter Hiscocks]

Interesting stuff, Walter.
Peter


On Tue, Mar 09, 2004 at 01:14:08AM -0500, Walter Dnes wrote:
>   BBC webpage http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3537165.stm paints a
> grim scenario.  Right now, the big threat from Open Source is in the
> Operating System area.  So you see SCO trying to destroy linux.  But as
> the BBC article points out...
> 
> =======================================================================
> "At the moment Microsoft is under attack because GNU/Linux is an
> operating system which can replace Windows.
> 
> But once we see an open source alternative to Quark Express running on
> those Linux boxes, or Postgres databases replacing Oracle, and an open
> source digital music store that challenges iTunes, we can expect to see
> Adobe, Apple and the rest of the software industry piling in too."
> =======================================================================
> 
>   Read the history books.  A century ago, as them-thar-new-fangled
> horseless-carriages began impacting the buggy-whip and carriage industry,
> the dinosaur industries used their lobby clout to get weird laws passed
> to harass/ban cars.  Cars eventually triumphed, but there were temporary
> setbacks, e.g. "the Red Flag Law".
> 
>   I've never considered myself a Richard Stallman follower in the past,
> but I fear that there is no middle road.  Either Open Source wins or
> Closed Source wins.  Them or Us.  I'd prefer peaceful co-existance, but
> as the BBC article points out...
> 
> =======================================================================
> It is time to accept that both sides cannot co-exist peacefully, because
> open source offers a fundamental challenge to the business model of the
> closed source, proprietary software developers, one which they must
> resist if they are not to go out of business.
> =======================================================================
> 
>   By co-incidence, http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5171543.html at ZDnet
> has an article titled "Study: Open-source databases going mainstream".
> So that could be the next battlefront for Open Source.
> 
>   This probably has some people wondering why IBM is backing linux.  IBM
> is supposed to be a for-profit corporation, not a charity.  The answer
> is that IBM is primarily a hardware manufacturer and consultancy
> company, not a software company (Those of you in the peanut-gallery
> running Multi-Mate in a DOS window under OS/2, please shut up).  OS and
> software is something that adds to the cost of their hardware, and that
> money goes to a third-party.  I'm showing my age, but let me point out
> that I remember back when IBM had its anti-trust troubles, one of its
> "sins" was giving away free software with its hardware.  IBM was able to
> thrive in a free software environment 30 years ago, and it can thrive in
> a free software environment today.
> 
> -- 
> Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org>
> Email users are divided into two classes;
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> --
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-- 
Peter D. Hiscocks                         	   
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering    
Ryerson University,                    
350 Victoria Street,
Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3, Canada

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