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RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'
Open Source software is not always going to be perfect and proprietary software is not always going to be condemned, but there are trends, and also exceptions.

But above and beyond the who is better, Open Source feels safer not because it's technically better and so on, but because I don't have to worry about the product being discontinued. If it is discontinued, and there is a sizeable user base, that user base can continue to work on the software. If I am the only one using it, and it means that much to me, I can maintain it and improve on it. If not, I can just switch. Proprietary software has only the latter option, and no matter what guarantees a company gives you that they are committed to maintaining that proprietary software, it is not as big a guarantee as Open Source.

That said, yes, I still use Windows and I also use Linux, and generally the former has not been very good to me while the latter has been. However, Microsoft Office is a plus point as there's nothing that comes quite close to it on Linux (OpenOffice.org is a good attempt, but slow on my slow laptop), and my favourite text editor is Windows-only (but Open Source, so who knows, it may be ported).

Ultimately, the winner will not be either Open Source or Proprietary software, but which entity that capitalises on the benefits of their development/licensing models and edges out everyone else with that and other aspects. Windows makes use of vertical integration of licensing and technological incompatibility to lock people in, which is legitimate albeit a bit distasteful, and Microsoft makes a lot of money from it. Red Hat sells good support for RHEL, contributes back to the community, and exploits the positive benefits of Open Source to deliver high quality products. Ultimately there is competition, and we all win.
Posted by: blwy10   Posted on: 11/13/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  Loverock Davidson | 10/20/08
....  Linux User 147560 | 10/20/08
So does that mean  mdemuth | 10/20/08
And what is in the CEO's best interest?  GuidingLight | 10/20/08
What a crappy argument!!!  jorgebraga | 10/21/08
Closed-source will live on...  nix_hed | 10/20/08
Sure it will  Michael Kelly | 10/20/08
First, Red Hat is probably not the best speaker for Open Source, or is it?  Gruffydd | 10/20/08
As much as  TedKraan | 10/21/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  steeleweed@... | 10/20/08
Red Hat Gives Flawed Argument  mikefarinha | 10/20/08
Slight difference  daftkey | 10/20/08
We Agree  mikefarinha | 10/20/08
Level of detail..  daftkey | 10/20/08
woah...  daftkey | 10/20/08
I stand corrected.  mikefarinha | 10/20/08
Hmmm..  TedKraan | 10/21/08
Vista, Kubuntu with KDE 4.1 an excellent set of tools  progon | 10/20/08
Kinda like telling the emperor he has no clothes?  kd5auq | 10/20/08
American Idol vs B.Spears  daftkey | 10/20/08
Exactly!  GeiselS@... | 10/20/08
Good point  daftkey | 10/20/08
This is exactly why  TedKraan | 10/21/08
huh?  aesirloke@... | 10/22/08
If we had a nickel for each proclaimed death knell...  ejhonda | 10/20/08
All commercial software is planned.  peter_erskine@... | 10/20/08
A false assumption..  daftkey | 10/20/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  gertruded | 10/20/08
I can't believe  daftkey | 10/20/08
How much do you earn?  GuidingLight | 10/21/08
Holy crap  daftkey | 10/22/08
"Planned Software" probably isn't the right way to put it  John L. Ries | 10/20/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  todbran@... | 10/20/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  mydasx | 10/20/08
Better Analogy  TedKraan | 10/21/08
How does that work..  daftkey | 10/21/08
more like...  TedKraan | 10/21/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  LordLiverpool | 10/21/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  mydasx | 10/21/08
I feel IE8 i9s the end of such software; and Red Hat can use my one piece:  rtirman37@... | 10/21/08
Never as good, but always more popular nonetheless.  db3k | 10/21/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  jetsethi | 10/21/08
Whitehurst mixes up planning with modularity, turns in to chicken licken.  pixolut | 10/21/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  mydasx | 10/24/08
OS shows its lack of planning  ChrisOPeterson | 10/25/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  NegativeElectrons | 10/27/08
RE: Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'  blwy10 | 11/13/08

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