“…Red Hat… went public with a bang today. … Linux devotees
cheered the news as they gathered in San Jose this week for a major
trade show devoted to the open-source operating system. VA Linux
Systems… will likely follow suit in the near future. Yet the Wall
Street success also signals a possible sea change in what’s come to
be known as ‘the Linux community.’
The influx of big dollars, and public shareholders, has some
Linux enthusiasts fearful for the unique culture of programmers and
hackers that has cobbled the OS together through the years.
‘It’s a bit scary,’ says Rob Malda, editor of Slashdot, a
Linux-oriented news and discussion site that was recently bought
out by the Andover News Network. ‘Companies with obligations to
stock holders are a lot different than companies with obligations
to a trusting, sharing community.’ “
” ‘I don’t think the rules of the game will change — to create
an inevitable conflict between desire to serve the open-source
community and desire to make money — any time soon, if ever,’ says
open-source advocate Eric S. Raymond, a member of VA Linux Systems’
board of directors. ‘Corporate behavior can look altruistic and be
motivated by a desire to do the right thing in non-monetary terms,
and still be the best route to increasing shareholder
value.’ “
” ‘There has been money and corporations involved for some time
now, and it hasn’t changed the way development has been done,
except for the fact that these corporations are now paying people
to develop Linux who would have done it anyway without pay,’
Torvalds says.”