open source: April 2008 Archives

The details are where open source and free software go their separate ways, and as Harvard starts teaching open source and more and more companies open source their products, this separation becomes more and more pronounced.

After reading about the Linux Foundation meetings this past week, I had my worries about the exclusionary nature of the group, and this Linux.com article doesn't ease my fears.

Update: The Linux Foundation has posted some information on the discussions regarding Linux on the desktop that took place at the meetings this past week.


Another update: Amanda McPherson, of the Linux Foundation, clarifies and corrects.

On the Drupal development list today, someone was saying something about some thing (it's not important to my point) and they said, kind of off-hand, "open source works based on 'scratch your own itch'."

Wow! I realize that's obvious, but that's a great way to say it. After reading it I kept saying it over and over. It made me think of Zed Shaw's work on Vellum and how Linus got things started with Linux (he wanted Unix to run with his processor, hence Linus's Unix). It's the reason Paul Graham did Arc, and it's the reason that Woz created the first PC. It wasn't about venture capital and startups. It was about scratching an itch.

P.S. If you haven't read iWoz, I recommend it. Seriously. It's good. The style is completely in Woz's voice, and it's got a good mix of pranks and computer history. He's a genius. (And I don't own, nor do I plan on owning, any Apple computers. He's just really a genius.)