[ Thanks to Frogger
for this link. ]
He’s not the first to make the point, but ZDNet’s Jack
MacCrisken points out that many open-source advocates (notably,
Bruce Perens) assume that if you’re not part of their solution
you’re part of the problem. Trouble is, he says, the real world
isn’t as Manichaean as this viewpoint — and people who choose
Microsoft tools are not automatically evil:
“The most frustrating aspect of the group manifesto is
the assumption that if you’re not part of their solution you’re
part of the problem–that one must choose between Free Software and
the Dark Side, as represented by ‘traditional’ software companies
such as Microsoft. Open source software can come in many forms,
with varying rights to modify the source code and varying degrees
of intellectual property protection. Ironically the Perens group
alludes with approval to the success of the Apache web server,
which is developed and maintained cooperatively under a BSD-type
open source license that does not have the viral properties of
GPL.”