ComputerWorld: Linux Makers in China Allegedly Violating Terms | Linux Today

ComputerWorld: Linux Makers in China Allegedly Violating Terms

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Jul 4, 2001

[ Thanks to blah for this link.
]

A reader writes: This article discusses the worries
that Chinese distributions are not sharing their modified source
code according to Red Hat. However, the distinction between
creating closed proprietary software solutions on top of Linux and
creating proprietary modifications to something like the kernel
source is not clear in the article.

“Linux software developers in mainland China are acting against
the spirit of open-source programming by not sharing their modified
source code, Red Hat VP and Managing Director Mark White said last
week.”

“‘China has a history of being able to take U.S.- or
European-developed software or technology products and then try and
take control of [them] by wrapping a Chinese applications layer
around it and saying it is now their technology,’ White said. He
added that this defeats the purpose of open source and does nothing
to encourage Linux business.”

“‘The challenge that we’ve seen with companies like Redflag
Software, Bluepoint, and to a lesser extent TurboLinux,
particularly in the [China], is that they’ve been very welcoming to
take this [open] source code and do something with it, but are less
welcoming to distribute their changes,’ White said.”

Complete
Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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