> Parasite is IBM, which profits from the Linux kernel but hasn´t open
> sourced ANY of its crown jewels. (GPL DB2?).
Small loss. Who would want it? IBM is a revenant, a barely-animated mummy.
> Google also profits from
> the open source world, then releases all its code under non-GPL terms
> (Chrome comes to mind).
If you're gonna abuse Google, I'm right there with you.
> News just in: 75% of Linux code contributed by PAID programmers, on
> some corporation´s payroll..
But of course! Stealing your employer's time to do your own stuff is a Robin Hood schtick -- it robs the rich and gives to the poor. It's a point of honor for me never to write a blog post unless some corporation is paying me to do something else at the time.
> Again, without Sun´s help in advancing the platform with OpenOffice
> and open standards, Linux would have never made it to netbooks, or
> Dell´s Ubuntu preloads, for that matter...
The subjunctive mood again. Who knows, actually? If the business case was there with Sun in the picture, who's to say it wouldn't have been there without Sun in the picture?
> It was McNealy´s vision which anticipated that without a top-notch
> Microsoft compatible Office suite, Linux and open source software
> would naver gain ground.
Some vision. Any five-year-old could have figured that out.
> I put McNealy´s vision on par with Netscape´s decision to open source
> the browser, which sparked Mozilla.org and Firefox.
Exactly right. And if Netscape -- Netscape! The people who gave us Javascript, and SSL! -- if Netscape hadn't done that, some Finn or Estonian would have written a better browser.
--
Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com