WebMonkey: Et Tu, Slashdot?

“Last week VA Linux announced that it was acquiring Andover.net,
the publicly traded company that owns, among others properties,
Slashdot. The reaction from many in the geek community was, in my
mind, bewildering. Some wished the new company luck, while others
commented on the savvy of the merger. Jon Katz, Slashdot’s
self-appointed crusader against corporate misdeeds, has been silent
on the matter.”

“Any unbiased appraisal of this merger, however, will yield one
difficult but inescapable truth: The camaraderie and high spirits
engendered by Linus and his band of programmers will soon be
replaced by the same rancor and factiousness that permeates the
rest of the capitalist world. And Slashdot, which is so highly
revered by its readers and those who know its mission, will soon
lose its trust, reputation, and standing.”

“The deal has dealt the much-heralded geek community and its
open-source development model a terrible blow, one from which it
may never recover.“

Complete
Story