Sun: Open source is about self-interest

TalkBack 34 of 84:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

so wrong

No offence, but it is not that simple. OSS does not owe anything to all modern commercial software, only to the pioneers who got everything going (as a matter of fact, so do all the MS's, Suns, and Novells of the world too).

The majority of people that are behind OSS are not rebels, but are the same type of people that would be ham radio operators 30 years ago. Smart people that get all they need from their hobby, and don't want to kill themselves trying to own and operate a business because it takes away time from doing what they really want to do.

So the main driver behind OSS is not rebelling against the software companies, as most of the zealots on here would have you believe, it's that the commerical companies do not give the OSS programmers what they need/want. And anytime you get someone resourceful (such as an OSS programmer) that has a need but no ideal solution, you'll get a new invention, implementation, or whatever to create thier ideal solution. Which means that yes, ultimately OSS is self-interest software. Just happens to be a whole bunch of people with the same self-interest.

Self-interest is what drives OSS, and why it works, and why it will be around for a long time to come even if it never has the revolution everyone keeps predicting. (There are still ham radio operators).

This is also why every piece of OSS that I've ever seen is built with the model of "pack a whole bunch of features in it and let everyone else figure out what to do with it, and make sure it works with everything else so you get the multiplying power of using tools with tools with tools"

And, unfortunately why OSS hasn't taken over the desktop. The majority of people using Windows, etc are not people who want to figit, they just want it to work with a minimal learning curve. OSS software really just provides too many options for the every day user, and they get overloaded. Don't believe me, go into a Linux user group and ask them how to do anything (mount a CD) and you'll get 50 different answers, ranging from CLI, to daemon, to GUI answers, etc. All of them are relatively easy, but it causes overload for the person that just to see what's on a CD (like my grandmother). People who go to the ends of the earth to get something they want, don't understand people who either don't care or only care for close enough.

Posted by: babar77   Posted on: 06/28/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Spotlight On Messaging ScriptLogic Spotlight on Messaging optimizes the performance and availability of ... Download Now
• Addressing Compliance Requirements for Privacy, Data Retention, and e-Discovery Trend Micro Protecting individual and financial data, retaining data, and meeting ... Download Now
• Remodeling the Data Center: A Centralized Data Storage Management Model Using a Dell | EMC SAN and NAS on SAN Enables Bombay Company to Revamp Its Most Important Room Dell The Bombay Company, Inc. designs and markets a unique line of home ... Download Now