1 |
On 02/15/2014 08:09 PM, walt wrote: |
2 |
> On 02/15/2014 12:30 PM, Daniel Campbell wrote: |
3 |
>> The social |
4 |
>> tactics at work from the systemd team (and verily, other Red Hat |
5 |
>> projects like GNOME) are reminiscent of Microsoft through the use of the |
6 |
>> "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" methodology. |
7 |
> |
8 |
> I certainly share your hostility towards M$ for suppressing competition. |
9 |
> |
10 |
> Red Hat, like M$, is a for-profit corporation, so I share your suspicion |
11 |
> that they want to suppress their competitors (though I don't know who |
12 |
> their competitors are). |
13 |
> |
14 |
> But comparing a completely closed-source shop like M$ to any open source |
15 |
> company leaves me feeling uneasy. I can't find the exact argument to |
16 |
> explain my unease, but I'm hoping someone else will jump in with a more |
17 |
> rational argument. |
18 |
> |
19 |
> |
20 |
> |
21 |
|
22 |
I think I understand where you're coming from. "How can they compare |
23 |
when Red Hat releases their source under a liberating license while MS |
24 |
locks it down behind closed doors?" |
25 |
|
26 |
That's missing the point, though. In the FOSS world, that's the "bait", |
27 |
so to speak. The wolf in sheep's clothing. Red Hat can release (or hack |
28 |
on) a bunch of attractive software or features, get people interested |
29 |
(so interested that, say, the majority of distros depend on it *wink |
30 |
wink*), and then use that influence to indirectly control where FOSS |
31 |
moves. By striking the weakest part of the stack (sysv probably *did* |
32 |
need a good replacement, but not one as ambitious as systemd) and |
33 |
digging down into the kernel level (kdbus), Red Hat devs will now have a |
34 |
very influential role in the FOSS world. This will in turn generate |
35 |
interest (and thus profit) in Red Hat. |
36 |
|
37 |
It's marginally clever, but so clearly obvious at the same time. It's |
38 |
sad (to me) that the community didn't see it coming. Those who did have |
39 |
been written off as conspiracy theorists or FUDders. Time will reveal all. |
40 |
|
41 |
~Daniel |