“Hewlett-Packard has opened up the programming instructions of
its electronic deal-making software and will ultimately release
control over its development, the company said today….”
“Making the software freely available–intended to promote
widespread adoption–is HP’s strategy for winning e-commerce
adherents. Sun, IBM, and other computing rivals have adopted
various plans to win hardware and software customers in the
fast-growing market for products that transact electronic
business.”
“To make e-speak “open source,” HP has selected Gnu’s famed
General Public License–the same license under which Linux is
released. The choice has several implications.“