Paul Querna:
It is interesting to ponder the value of the
Apache HTTP Server Project,
but I think at some point, you can’t get caught up in silly
things like that. You need to do open source for yourself first. If
other people use it... thats just a bonus.
That’s certainly The Apache way. But as I post this
using Ubuntu Linux, I can’t help but notice that while I like
the license for FreeBSD better, Linux seems to be more actively
developed. And while I like the community model for Debian
better, Ubuntu produces more consistent results for me.
And SourceForge is littered with projects that people have done
“for themselves first”, but which never quite attained
critical mass.
I can partially rationalize my choice in operating systems this
be noting that the switching costs are low. My home server
currently runs Ubuntu (it previously ran Debian, and before that
Redhat). Heck, I could probably even switch to Windows within
a day.
But as to Paul/Tim’s point, understanding the underlying
motivation of the people who are developing anything that you
depend on is crucial.
Since I just got done arguing with some random guy about free (as in speech) software, I really have to agree. If it wasn’t for Linus' general opinion of the zealots, I’d probably never touch Linux simply because of the GNU GPL. I’d much prefer to stick to the BSDs whenever possible. And/or OS X cuz it’s shiny and has TextMate. “Software activism” makes so little sense to me. Generosity, friendliness, cooperation, and interoperability are all good reasons to make something open source. Ideology... eh, not so much, IMHO.
I don’t think it’s the licensing that gets people developing Linux over FreeBSD. My guess is it’s the central control exerted by the FreeBSD project over dev/release. And not a bad thing, IMO.
Voogle :: Bram Joins Google and other Miscellaneous Linkage
[Disclaimer: Nothing is more dangerous to the Internet than a blogger with an aggregator (Endo), Ecto and a long plane flight] Wow. I didn’t foresee Bram Moolenar joining Google. I wonder what this says to the Google Emacs contingent.*...