____/ [H]omer on Saturday 18 August 2007 18:24 : \____
> Verily I say unto thee, that Linonut spake thusly:
>> After takin' a swig o' grog, Ian Hilliard belched out this bit o'
>> wisdom:
>>> Linonut wrote:
>
>>>> The purpose of GNU/Linux is to detach the strings, not re-attach
>>>> them.
>>>
>>> The purpose of linux is to put balance back into the computer
>>> industry.
>>
>> No, that's just a side effect. The purpose GNU/Linux is to share
>> knowledge so that individuals can control their software. But,
>> indeed, balance is a welcome side-effect.
>
> Pendant point; but the "purpose" of Linux was an experiment to come up
> with an alternative to MINIX. The GPL was merely an arbitrary choice by
> Torvalds. The main thrust of the Free Software momentum came much later,
> greatly assisted (it must be said) by the increasing popularity of Linux
> ... the Poster Child for Free Software, and the OS foundation which
> makes all other Free Software deployable in a wholly Free environment.
>
> So I'd say that any *purpose* here, in general, is a "Free Software"
> agenda. Anything specifically to do with Linux is merely a technical
> endeavour, hence Torvalds' lacklustre attitude towards things like GPL3.
> Linux is Torvalds' baby; his primary concern is technical excellence; he
> has little interest in politics.
>
> And yes, the purpose of Free Software is, naturally, Freedom, and the
> protection of that Freedom, in the context of software. Novell may be
> quite happy to use the Linux kernel, but their agenda seems rather too
> biased towards proprietary solutions for my tastes, especially given the
> proliferation of Microsoft technology in their portfolio, and their very
> obviously close ties to the Vole. They may love Linux, but they don't
> love Free software anywhere near as much as they love money, and they
> seem only too happy to compromise the former for the benefit of the latter.
>
>>> It is important that companies like Novell exist to make the step
>>> away from Windows shorter and hence doable. Once people and
>>> companies have made that first step, then it is possible for them
>>> to look at the further possabilities that exist in the Linux
>>> universe.
>>
>> I seriously doubt Novell will fulfill that mission, except for direct
>> business customers of Microsoft.
>>
>> But maybe you are right, and I'm being too cynical.
>
> I don't think it's cynicism.
>
> Microsoft does not cut deals with GNU/Linux vendors to promote GNU/Linux
> at the expense of Windows adoption, they do it to divide and conquer the
> GNU/Linux industry, and squeeze every red cent they can from those who
> choose anything but Windows.
It is indeed the intent. They already extract money from Scalix customer, which
they hijacked using a proxy (Xandros).
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | "I regularly SSH to God's brain and reboot"
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
01:20:01 up 12 days, 4:13, 5 users, load average: 0.77, 0.97, 1.05
http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project
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