Free Software Linux

Sadly, it's become something of an event when Eric Raymond offers one of his stimulating essays on technology. I know he's supposed to be working on some top-secret, er, something, but couldn't we have a few more words like these? There's an argument commonly heard these days that open-source software is all very well for infrastructure or commodity software where the requirements are well-established, but that it can't really innovate. I laugh when I hear this, because I remember when the common wisdom was exactly the opposite -- that we hackers were great for exploratory, cutting-edge stuff but couldn't deliver reliable product.

"...On 26 june a prophet came to CERN. Complete with long hair and a bushy unkempt, Richard Stallman looked every bit the part. His message was software should be free. [...] The year that Stallman came to CERN, Tim had published a note in a CERN computing newsletter drawing the laboratarie's attention to GNU. [...] «When we speak of free software ... we are refrerring to freedom, not price».

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