The NYT was on hand for RMS’s recent speech in New York, and
offers a fairly friendly assessment not only of the speech but the
broader background context of Craig Mundie’s speech and Free
Software in general. Style mavens and Gray Lady watchers may be
interested to note that for at least this article, the NYT has
adopted “GNU-Linux.”
“…From all appearances, Microsoft has reason for
concern, particularly where corporate clients are concerned.
Despite the company’s efforts to curb the movement, support for
open-source software continues to grow here and abroad, led
primarily by I.B.M. In his speech at Stern, Mr. Mundie estimated
that at least a dozen countries now had open-source initiatives.In one of the posted responses to Mr. Mundie’s remarks, Eben
Moglen, a law professor at Columbia and general counsel for the
Free Software Foundation, wrote: “Microsoft, which used to say all
the time that the software business was ruthlessly competitive, is
now matched against a competitor whose model of production and
distribution is so much better that Microsoft stands no chance of
prevailing in the long run. They’re simply trying to scare people
out of dealing with a competitor they can’t buy, can’t intimidate
and can’t stop.”GNU-Linux is now the fastest-growing operating system for
network-server computers, according to the market researcher IDC.
The number of users increased from about 1,000 in 1992 to roughly 9
million last year. Far from the fringe technology it was once
considered, GNU-Linux is now firmly entrenched in corporate
information-technology departments. I.B.M., which makes its money
in this sector by selling machines and services, says it will spend
$1 billion on GNU-Linux this year to help make the software a
standard.”