“In the second half of Doc Searls’ conversation with Linux
Journal publisher, Phil Hughes, the two talk about the Internet,
the Linux industry and turning to face the ch-ch-changes in Linux
from geek OS to major commercial contender.”
“Doc: You’ve probably watched the climbing
Linux adoption curve closer than anybody. Why is Linux finding
universal adoption where other free UNIXes (such as the BSDs) did
not?
Phil: As much as Richard Stallman and others
would like to credit this adoption with the difference between the
GPL and the other software licenses, I just don’t think it is the
case. Linux got out there, and it worked. While the various BSD
camps were fighting over which was the one true BSD, people were
using Linux and seeing that it was a solution. … Even before I
met Linus, I was impressed by his maturity and sobriety. The guy
just seemed to have this highly informed and calm perspective, like
a judge. Not your average 20-something dude; not your average geek,
either. Made me wonder what would have happened, say, if Bill Joy
had stayed with Berkeley UNIX. Instead, Bill is doing fun stuff,
but it’s all stuff that’s owned by Sun. Java. Gini. Solaris. Sun is
a good company, but in their own way, they’re as closed as
Microsoft. …”