[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Fw: [ox-en] Why is Microsoft Attacking the GPL?

[josh zeidner <jjzeidner@yahoo.com>]

This has been going on for quite some time, the
slashdot guys have been reporting this story for more
than a year now.  I find it interesting because this
indicates that Microsoft is starting to take open
source seriously, where thier former sentiments were
along the lines of "open source software is of
inferior quality".  Today they hypocritically argue
BOTH sides.  What open source may do, is
delegitimatize microsofts huge structure of
programmers who simply serve to keep microsoft in
place rather than provide a service to customers.

Did you know that Bill Gate's wealth is equal to the
wealth of the entire lower 30% of people in America? 
I suggest you take a look at "Twilight of American
Culture."

 bread and circuses...

  josh z


> This may be of interest...
> 
> M
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Russell McOrmond"
> <russell@flora.ottawa.on.ca>
> To: "oekonux english" <list-en@oekonux.org>
> Cc: "Free/Open-Source Software Community
> Networking/Computing"
> <comnet-www@flora.org>
> Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2001 8:50 AM
> Subject: Re: [ox-en] Why is Microsoft Attacking the
> GPL?
> 
> 
> > On Tue, 3 Jul 2001, Stefan Meretz wrote:
> >
> > >
>
http://www2.linuxjournal.com/articles/currents/0032.html
> > >
> > > Why is Microsoft Attacking the GPL?
> >
> > > Mr. Gates made the following statement last week
> to a CNET News.com
> > > reporter: "The ecosystem where you have free
> software and commercial
> > > software--and customers always get to decide
> which they use--that's a
> > > very important and healthy ecosystem", Gates
> told the interviewer. But
> > > the GPL, Gates says, "breaks that cycle--that
> is, it makes it impossible
> > > for a commercial company to use any of that work
> or build on any of that
> > > work. So what you saw with TCP/IP or Sendmail or
> the browser could never
> > > happen. We believe there should be free software
> and commercial
> > > software; there should be a rich ecosystem that
> works around that."
> >
> >   There is an important misconception being
> conveyed here which we, the
> > Free Software community, seem to be allowing. 
> That is that the 'opposite'
> > of Free Software is "Commercial Software" when in
> fact the opposite is
> > *proprietary* software.   Gates is trying to make
> linear two totally
> > different axis given that you can have Free
> Software that is Commercial,
> > and proprietary software that is non-commercial.
> >
> >   There are many commercial companies, such as my
> own, that almost
> > exclusively use Free Software in their solutions
> to customers.  The real
> > "software ecosystem" is not harmed by using Free
> Software.  In fact, it is
> > using Free Software (specifically the GPL with
> it's "derivative insurance
> > policy") that protects that very ecosystem given
> that it is proprietary
> > software that breaks the cycle since if a
> non-paying commercial customer
> > (EG: an academic researcher, home user, whatever)
> were to "use any of that
> > work or build on any of that work" it is called
> "software piracy", and
> > Microsoft themselves are active in trying to have
> people charged for it.
> >
> >   I wrote an article about this long ago, hoping
> to have a change made to
> > the Hackers Dictionary (currently maintained by
> Eric S. Raymond, who
> > largely created the Open Source philosophical
> separation from the Free
> > Software movement), and many of these updates were
> made:
> >   http://www.flora.ca/commercial-software.shtml
> >
> > ---
> >  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant:
> <http://www.flora.ca/>
> >  RMS clarifies Freedom
> http://www.gnu.org/press/2001-05-04-GPL.html
> >  New Campaign for Fuel Subsidy Honesty!
> http://www.flora.org/taxpayer/
> >  Proprietary education/government   
> http://mai.flora.org/forum/27389
> > _______________________
> > http://www.oekonux.org/
> 
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