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Mambo needs to get their act together ...
and make a good faith effort to work this thing out. I applaud the efforts of Furthermore to open discussion on this issue. Not everyone in business understands all of the issues surrounding the GPL and free software. Mr. Connolly obviously thought he was receiving exclusive rights to the feature and, in fact, he wasn't. The way I see it, the Mambo developer should have made this clear, since he was receiving payment and direction from Futhermore. I would suggest that there is a need for a business team composed of representitives of GPL savy companies like HP and IBM to do some handholding for smaller companies interested in working with GPL software, but in need of some guidance. Mr. Connolly seems to me like a nice guy who is not at all opposed to the GPL or free software in general. But in this case he was totally blindsided by the public release of a feature that he paid for and apparently intended for inhouse use only. And that just opens the door for some competitor to come along and take advantage of what would have otherwise been a competitive edge for Furthermore. I really do thing that Mambo should consider voluntarily removing the feature in question for an agreed upon period of time, thus allowing Furthermore a fair return for their investment. If free software people want to be treated with respect by the proprietary community, they are going to have to give a little respect once in a while. My advice to Mambo would be to take advantage of the opportunity to talk this thing over and find a way to compromise. Generally free software friendly companies like Furthermore are only to happy to contribute code to the GPL, but they do expect to have some time to recoup their expense and to make a fair profit before the feature is released in the wild. I personally find that a very reasonable expectation. Often free software people simply don't understand how difficult it is for proprietary companies to even survive in a very competitive marketplace. They can spend a lot of money, sweat, and blood, and come up empty handed just because of one person's betrayal, intentional, malicious or otherwise. I wish the best to both Furthermore and Mambo.
Posted by: George Mitchell   Posted on: 09/20/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Mambo needs to get their act together ...  George Mitchell | 09/20/04
You work for Furthermore or you didn't read the article  el1jones | 09/21/04
Wrong on both counts.  George Mitchell | 09/21/04
OOPS!  George Mitchell | 09/21/04
when will people learn...  +-Chris-+ | 09/20/04
Note to self:  d_jedi | 09/20/04
I hear ya!  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/20/04
depends on what the contract said  V Sanders | 09/20/04
No, he is a low life.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
His promise...  doe_z | 09/21/04
And you make a case against open source. Thank you!  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
total rubbish  hipparchus2000 | 09/21/04
And you make a case against closed source. Thank you!  hortons@... | 09/21/04
nevertheless...  John L. Ries | 09/21/04
John, they have ZERO choice.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Sure, they do...  John L. Ries | 09/21/04
post the link to your proof, don't just post opinion  hipparchus2000 | 09/21/04
Well ...  George Mitchell | 09/21/04
ah, it turns out  V Sanders | 09/20/04
No, the developer did the wrong thing.  Patrick Jones | 09/21/04
Did he know?  Letophoro | 09/21/04
True...  Patrick Jones | 09/21/04
His e-mail indicated he did know.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Not at all  Letophoro | 09/21/04
THANK YOU! This is why the GPL is a cancer.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
You realise...  doe_z | 09/21/04
No, I realize that even coming close is dangerous.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Again, not at all  Letophoro | 09/21/04
Not at all responce.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Re: Responce  Letophoro | 09/21/04
Responce to the responce.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Responce ^4  Letophoro | 09/21/04
You just don't get it do you?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Let's keep it simple.  Letophoro | 09/21/04
no link? no surprise! no cigar.  hipparchus2000 | 09/21/04
So Furthermore hired a Mambo developer for what??  el1jones | 09/21/04
To write a PROPRIETARY module  Patrick Jones | 09/21/04
It was my understanding  rapson | 09/21/04
Yes and No  Patrick Jones | 09/21/04
I keep hearing Proprietary...Let me see also...  el1jones | 09/21/04
Carl, you are absolutely right.  George Mitchell | 09/21/04
Excellent post Carl  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Proprietary - Possibly .. OR ... Possibly Not....  el1jones | 09/21/04
True  Patrick Jones | 09/21/04
Tis a bitter taste for anyone touching open source.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
It goes back to...  rapson | 09/21/04
Get a (good) lawyer to write your contract to keep the shirt on back  hipparchus2000 | 09/21/04
what does he mean  V Sanders | 09/20/04
I believe he means it's not good for open source.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
Distortion  tonyg_z | 09/21/04
HUH?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
you called the developer "at best a liar"  hipparchus2000 | 09/21/04
Did you even read the article or just go to the talkback?  B.O.F.H. | 09/21/04
Thank you!  tonyg_z | 09/21/04
This is atypical for Free Software and therefore not relevant  hipparchus2000 | 09/21/04
Open source, getting more news everyday  FilledOut | 09/21/04
And not much of it good...  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/21/04
... for Microsoft  hipparchus2000 | 09/21/04
. . . to care about  FilledOut | 09/23/04
So does Microsoft  rapson | 09/21/04

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