osOpinion: Understanding Fear of the Gnu

[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link. ]

“Open source software is a serious threat to all that is good
and true and right in this country.” Not surprising and easily
dismissed as anti-GNU (GNU’s not Unix) rhetoric from a company that
is running scared, but the issues are much older, wobblier and more
complex than “Windows good, Linux bad.”

“The threat to innovation must be seriously considered. If
GNU-ware can be used effectively in place of applications that cost
hundreds or even thousands of dollars, how can serious software
companies hope to compete? Huge financial and intellectual
resources are being drawn away from industry by open source
freeware.”

“Yet, upon examination, what other conclusion can be reached
than that the industry is grossly over-pricing its product?
Innovation largely seems to consist of adding a lot of gadgetry and
minimum performance. Very often, the superficial improvements
detract from performance and/or efficient use, over which the user
is given little control in applications delivered as unified
packages.”

Complete
Story