On Sun, 5 Dec 1999 16:53:41 -0800 (PST) George Bonser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Sun, 5 Dec 1999, J C Lawrence wrote: >> There are a great many people for whom the only particular value >> Debian brings to the table is apt-get and friends. They have no >> interest in religion, no interest or strong values relating to >> the variations in freedom of DFSG vs OSD vs <whatever> -- they >> just want a box they can build and administer easily, and Debian >> offers them that by providing a system they can upgrade and >> extend over the wire, and potentially apply that same >> distribution and administration model across a lab of hundreds of >> machines. > Well said. The computer is a tool. People often use it to get real > work done with real deadlines. Real money depends on this > work. Debian offers the best ENVORONMENT, so far, for maintaining > and supporting software for Linux in the enterprise. > Political values of the distribution mean little in that > context. It stands on its TECHNICAL merits and not its POLITICAL > ideology. In this environment, commercial software is often needed > to get the job done. Products such as IBM's application servers, > java stuff, things from Corel, make Linux useful in the > enterprise. Or, if you wish, there is a place in the world for closed source development and middle-ground products which aren't really Open Source, and aren't really Closed Source. This may not be what one prefers, but it is a fact of the world that Debian lives in. The important bit that Debian and the OS community needs to take note of here is in helping to form that middle ground and ensuring that the not-quite-open licenses (of which there will undoubtedly be many) are not excessively offensive. This is a game of shades of gray. Debian helps mark one end of the scale. It cannot afford to limit itself to just that end or it runs the risk of being marked irrelevant. Debian has the potential, along with RMS, Perens, et al, to also influence and help form the gray ground that lies between the DFSG and the closed source community. Its Debian's ball to pick up or drop. > The enterprise is what makes the difference between a hobby or > research project and something you can send the kids to college > with. Mortgage banks, grocery stores, and schools require real > money. They do not give any discounts for having contributed to > Free software. Debian may be great from a political standpoint but > if it will not get the job done at work, it is not likely to ever > be used there and WILL be replaced by a distribution that targets > that area. Which in turn raises the whole challenge of wrapping business models for software development around the OSD anbd DFSG. Its not a pretty battlefied currently and its one that needs to be confronted a little deeper than ESR's arm-waving comments. People have to make money. Share holder value needs to be preserved and grown, mortgages and school bills need to be paid, and careers and IT development investments need to be supportable as an _industry_ etc. >> And even more interestingly, Debian needs those people. They are >> the users of the world and Debian cannot surivive without a user >> pool to draw new talent from as the old leaves thru attrition. > Yup. A lot easier for a newbie to Linux to become a maintainer if > that newbie starts out on Debian at the start. If a business uses > Debian in its infrastructure, a good number of pretty bright > people can become exposed to its methods quickly. Quite. Further, they are exposed to the moral structures (DFSG, OSD, free/non-free, license issues, etc) at a fundamental level which helps promulgate the basic issues and impacts of Open Source we're really interested in. -- J C Lawrence Home: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------(*) Other: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --=| A man is as sane as he is dangerous to his environment |=--
