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Will Simon Phipps Energize OSI?
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Comments (11)
I like FSE. Free Software in the Enterprise is more informative, and sounds like something that would appeal to businesses.
I guaran-dang-tee it that the business corporation is the #1 type of entity that will confuse the meaning of "free".
gus3 -
Yeah, but that confusion isn't as material as some (**cough** RMS!!!) would have you believe.
From a corporate standpoint, free as in gratis translates into free as in libre.
That's because spending money leaves a paper trail, requires approval, bureaucracy, etc. Once the initial introduction of free software, with all of the assorted corporate eyeballs and signatures, that free software means a lot of "nos" are cut from the chain.
Yeah, but that confusion isn't as material as some (**cough** RMS!!!) would have you believe.
From a corporate standpoint, free as in gratis translates into free as in libre.
That's because spending money leaves a paper trail, requires approval, bureaucracy, etc. Once the initial introduction of free software, with all of the assorted corporate eyeballs and signatures, that free software means a lot of "nos" are cut from the chain.
FSE would lead to confusion with FSFE, or am I the only one?
Hans -
You're the only one. I thought you knew that by now.
You're the only one. I thought you knew that by now.
Oh?
I thought I was confused, but I guess I wasn't.
...
D'OH!
I thought I was confused, but I guess I wasn't.
...
D'OH!
gus -
Relax, you were confused. Not about that, but still confused.
It's kind of cute, though.
Relax, you were confused. Not about that, but still confused.
It's kind of cute, though.
I'm the only one!
Now everyone else, please leave LXer. I'm one, I'm _the_ one, all is one and I'm only that one and I'm the one only real only one!
So, bettur, huh? Now I'm going to drink some coffee. Alone!
Now everyone else, please leave LXer. I'm one, I'm _the_ one, all is one and I'm only that one and I'm the one only real only one!
So, bettur, huh? Now I'm going to drink some coffee. Alone!
Hans --
You might want to go easy on that coffee. Just sayin'.
You might want to go easy on that coffee. Just sayin'.
Got it from the Dutch coffeeshops, you know.
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The OSI's original raison d'etre, as conceived by Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond, was to market free software for business, giving it a face distinct from those sandal-wearing communists of the Free Software Foundation. They even called the software something different: Open Source.
Times have changed. That battle's been won. Thanks to Linux, Apache, MySQL, perl, php, yada, yada, and yet more yada, free software is all over the place - including America's largest corporations.
The initial geek's wet-dream marketing pitch ("We have the CODE!!. We can do whatever we want with the CODE!) has outlived its usefulness. Free software awareness (even if they call it open source) extends beyond the geek enclaves and many users never so much as peek at a line of code. Worse, some faux "open" licenses -- look but don't touch and sure as heck don't tell anybody -- have muddied the water in some minds.
The benefit of free software to business is the freedom to do what you need with it in order to run your business, whether or not you ever crack the code.
That's a powerful sales pitch and the business world is ready to hear it.