RE: OT -- MS makes a statement about open-source software movemen

 Ooooh, this is good stuff too. As a twinkly-eyed "Randist" decades ago, i should have seen that argument, too. Commerce and "pure" research do support each other. At least, I know I have benefitted from both.

Thanks for the extra analysis, Dr. Pierce!

Ross

p.s. btw, your cry to attention at the end....are there articles you have in mind supporting your statement that the anti-MS jihad'ers underestimate .Net, or is this an intuitive call? (I am perfectly willing to entertain either, or both, as a answer...)

-----Original Message-----
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L Sent: 5/4/2001 6:05 PM

Basically this is just the same old "purists" vs. "popularizers" stuff.

But it is classic. Let the jihad rage.

Reverend Torvalds is of course mainly preaching to the choir (purists). He ought to at least acknowledge that in the history of science, commerce -as applied scientific development- has always played an important role as an economic engine, though frequently in considerable tension to the "purist" interests/preferences of scientific elites. Of course it is tempting to set up scientists as heroic/romantic figures, but without the social engine of commerce chugging along, would the resources have even been there to support all the great innovations that were developed by the intellectual and scientific elites? Of course not. Also, commerce and science (as we know them in the "modern" age since 1600), arose from the same underlying cultural/"evolutionary" wellsprings, so the idea of separating commerce from science has limited relevance.

I wasn't able to stay awake enough to force myself to stomach reading all of corporate-speak drivel in the MS guy's statement, but this did jump out at me:

---excerpt---
[IP = intellectual property]

   ...Finally, the fact that we believe strongly in the value of IP    protection doesn't mean that we discount the importance of    contributing to and supporting the public domain of knowledge as    well. We believe that interaction between the public domain and    the IP-based sector needs to be based on mutual responsibility and    respect.

   There is an important and longstanding tradition for the public    domain of knowledge, or "intellectual commons." This is reflected    in many ways, including federal support for basic research, the    limitations on IP rights reflected in the law and, more recently,    the broad practice of contributing technology to public standards    groups for the continued development of the Internet. We support    this and want to continue to be a constructive and responsible    participant in this community, including making contributions to    public standards. There is an equally important tradition of    commercial companies having the opportunity to benefit from and    apply this public knowledge, including by developing commercial    products that are protected by IP rights. There are many examples    of this, including the many products that grew from research in    the space program and the advances in speech recognition    technology that followed work done at pre-eminent institutions    such as Carnegie Mellon.

...

---end---

Really, the brainwashed idiots/ propagandists at MS are their own worst enemy (enema?). If they would just tell the plain truth instead of constantly twisting it and distorting it to fit their internally self-referential greedy mentality, they could make a much better fair case (IMO).

>From what I've heard, at this point ".Net" is being dangerously
underestimated by the anti-MS jihad.

regards,
ep

On 4 May 2001, at 11:41, Mohan, Ross scribbled with alacrity and cogency:

> Boy, that is an excellent response, and one
> of the best defenses of Open Source i've heard.
>
> || -----Original Message-----
> || From: Jamadagni, Rajendra [mailto:rajendra.jamadagni_at_espn.com]
> || Sent: Friday, May 04, 2001 11:22 AM
> || To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> || Subject: RE: OT -- MS makes a statement about open-source software
> || movemen
> ||
> ||
> || Here is Linus's response ....
> ||

http://web.siliconvalley.com/content/sv/2001/05/03/opinion/dgillmor/webl og/torvalds.htm

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