Is Open Source The Salvation Army Of Software?
from the get-rid-of-your-junk dept
When you have old clothes and furniture you want to get rid of, you donate it to the Salvation Army. Paul Krill is now asking if the same thing is happening with old software, but instead of donating it to the Salvation Army, companies are simply offering it up as open source. He points to a variety of recent high profile "open source" announcements from companies, including today's deal for AOL to sell Netscape's server technology to Red Hat, who will open source it (a slightly different deal that the others, in that this one was sold -- though, some folks have noticed that this is actually the second time AOL has sold this technology). It's an interesting theory, and it's not necessarily a bad idea. If companies no longer want to support applications, why not just open source it and see what the community can do? Also, it can't harm the open source community, but could help them by giving them more access to technology that could be helpful in a variety of projects -- even if it's a little old (and faded around the edges).
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
What about upgrading this site to current fashion?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: What about upgrading this site to current fash
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: What about upgrading this site to current fash
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
D-chip
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: D-chip
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
OS is not free
[ link to this | view in chronology ]