Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 18:07:48 -0500 (EST)
From: "Mike A. Harris" <mharris@opensourceadvocate.org>
To: Dennis <dennis@etinc.com>
cc: Linux Kernel mailing list <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: Linux stifles innovation...
In-Reply-To: <5.0.0.25.0.20010216170349.01efc030@mail.etinc.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0102161800310.2548-100000@asdf.capslock.lan>
Copyright: Copyright 2001 by Mike A. Harris - All rights reserved
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Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org

On Fri, 16 Feb 2001, Dennis wrote:

>The biggest thing that the linux community does to stifle innovation is to
>bash commercial vendors trying to make a profit by whining endlessly about
>"sourceless" distributions and recommending "open-source" solutions even
>when they are wholly inferior. You're only hurting yourselves in the long
>run. In that respect MS is correct, because those with the dollars to
>innovate will stay away.

Try telling that to IBM, Intel, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Dell,
SGI, and a handful of other _major_ computer companies that now
realize the importance of open source.

Seriously, get a copy of Eric S. Raymond's book, "The Cathedral
and the Bazaar" (or view it online at http://www.opensource.org),
and read through it.  It is very well written and covers all
aspects of what you are fearing - in a positive way.

Linux is one of the most stable operating systems ever written.
That's not just advocacy, that is fact.  Drivers marked
experimental are not just experimental - some are, but a lot are
not, they just have not had anyone send in loud positive
feedback, and so the maintainers left them that way.

If you think the various crud commercial OS's out there are
stable and have no experimental code in them, and that drivers do
not crash or have bugs, you haven't been computing for long.

At any rate, nobody has a gun to your head - go use something
else that works for you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Mike A. Harris  -  Linux advocate  -  Free Software advocate
          This message is copyright 2001, all rights reserved.
  Views expressed are my own, not necessarily shared by my employer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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