I'd say the claim is rather bold. BSD Ports, predates Ian's work by a number of years.
Also, I think the number one thing that Linux brought was the completely distributed and decentralized model of OS development under the viral GPL license. We had free and open source operating systems prior to Linux. Most, if not all, were developed in a highly controlled and centralized fashion. (You needed to be an official member of the development team to contribute). Now, all you really needed was a PC and an email client to get involved in OS development. By decoupling kernel development from the OS proper, it allowed distribution packagers to pick best of breed applications/tools/utilities to fill individual needs. (As was only fitting, the Linux kernel was the best of breed GPL kernel at that time). Everyone is talking about how Linux is broken because there is no stable ABI, and that there is no standard "Linux". I would like to play devil's advocate for a moment. It's because there is no standard "Linux", that Linux can be all things to all people. It's also because of the GPL that the swarm of noncentralized activity allows, with each contributer adding pieces for their own use, Linux's rapid movement as a whole, coalescing around the best of breed ideas as time passes. (Remember at any given time, not everyone agrees on the best of breed. We, may see parallel development efforts for periods of time. But it all seems to sort itself out in the end.) In summary I guess I'm trying to say that Linux's number one strength is either the GPL, or Linux's decentralized and distributed development model. (Or quite possibly the combination of the two). --Brian P.S. - The title of his article should be, how the internet changed everything. On 7/21/07, Tim Bray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Ian may be a little too restrained to post this link himself, so I will: http://ianmurdock.com/2007/07/21/how-package-management-changed- everything/ -Tim _______________________________________________ indiana-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/indiana-discuss
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