Ive been thinking about how to post this, and I'm not quite sure where Im trying to go with it, but here we go.

What are other monks feelings towards the present sofware industry, Open vs Closed source, etc... Taking into account the horrible legislation that is coming out in the USA, and the nasty ways they are circumnavigating laws and basic rights, in order to penalize people who aren't even members of their nation. What are people's thoughts on things like the DMCA, and UCITA and how these pieces of legislation directly or indirectly effect you as a developer?

I feel like it's getting to the point where the larger closed source companies are doing anything in their power to eradicate the open source movement. Look at the SCO fiasco, things MicroSoft has done in the past and what they are doing going forward, etc..(not to "bash" MicroSoft, well not much, but they are the most visible anti-OSS company). Though on the flip side, we are still here and thriving. I am firmly in the opensource camp, as is Perl, but it's scary for me watching whats going on, while guessing at what "behind the scenes" types of things are happening in regards to monetary nudges, companies and politicians washing each others backs, companies providing unbelievable discounts for select clientel in order to get them locked in, etc.

Where do other monks weigh in on this? I mean we have great organizations like the EFF, and ACLU which protect peoples rights, but is it enough? These organizations could be so much more effective if the entire community actively backed them, but one of our cardinal virtues is laziness which leads to issues ;)... What about patents like Amazon's where they have patented a "one-click" shopping technique so no one else is now allowed to store cookie/meta data in a DB and "remember" a customer when they come back to their site, at least not without paying Amazon for the rights to use their technology.

I guess thats what I want to say, or at least my thoughts at present to at least start this thread.

MMMMM... Chocolaty Perl Goodness.....

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: (OT) Software (?:Industry) in general
by djantzen (Priest) on Jun 10, 2003 at 20:39 UTC

    I feel like it's getting to the point where the larger closed source companies are doing anything in their power to eradicate the open source movement.

    You're ignoring the huge contributions of resources and name recognition now firmly backing Linux and by extension OSS made by companies such as IBM, Novell, HP, Oracle. While Microsoft definitely would like to see the proprietary software model continue unchallenged, they have plenty of opponents in the business world looking for options to undermine their hegemony. OSS is becoming a tool in the struggle between corporations for profitability and I think in the long run the competition between them will tend to strengthen it. And even if five years from now the companies have abandoned their dalliance with open source, the community will still be here quietly working, just as it was long before it became sexy.

    As for the frightening developments legislatively, we need to support groups that represent us like the EFF, write our congress members on important issues (Note that a membership with the EFF makes sending (personalizable) form letters very easy), and hope like there's no tomorrow that bad legislation like the DMCA bites enough people on both sides that it sees reconsideration.

    "The dead do not recognize context" -- Kai, Lexx
[reply]
      I feel like it's getting to the point where the larger closed source companies are doing anything in their power to eradicate the open source movement.
[reply]
Re: (OT) Software (?:Industry) in general
by Anonymous Monk on Jun 10, 2003 at 16:40 UTC
    ...and the nasty ways they are circumnavigating laws and basic rights...

    I think you mean circumventing.

[reply]

      Circumferencing!

[reply]
      from dictionary.com
      cir·cum·nav·i·gate ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sūrkm-nv-gt) tr.v. cir·cum·nav·i·gat·ed, cir·cum·nav·i·gat·ing, cir·cum·nav·i·gates

      1. To proceed completely around: circumnavigating the earth.
      2. To go around; circumvent: circumnavigate the downtown traffic.

      I meant circumnavigate. I.e find ways around the letter of the laws to get where they want/need to go :)

      MMMMM... Chocolaty Perl Goodness.....
[reply]
Re: (OT) Software (?:Industry) in general
by yosefm (Friar) on Jun 14, 2003 at 19:39 UTC
    Anyway, I still don't see any law against sharing. Big open source projects may be threatened because they are in the spotlight, but let's face a simple truth - programmers will never stop co-operating. Even when you work on a very closed source project you can still get advice and help at many places over the internet with the soul price of giving your advice to someone else. That's the true meaning of open-source.

    BTW - The most important things we can learn from open source is that it has a financial basis, and people can make a living out of it. And that's why it won't go away, even if not take 100% of the software market...

[reply]
Re: (OT) Software (?:Industry) in general
by dopey (Sexton) on Jun 14, 2003 at 01:57 UTC
    About the legislation:
    If we want to prevent the legislation that affects us we all have to write our senators. The ACLU leaders encourage everyone to take an active part in the law making process.
[reply]

Back to Meditations