I have been following this rehash of open source and SMSQ/E with interest and happened to be reading the November issue of WIRED magazine which has a long interview with Linus and the impact of Linux on computing. My jaw dropped when on page 206 there is a brief mention of the Sinclair QL as a then state of the art machine and gives the QL credit for Linus writing Linux. I had heard some of this before but never seen it in print.
I happen to think that Open Source is one of the most important intellectual movements to come out of the late 20th century (bless Richard Stallman). It still has a ways to go to really catch on in main stream society. But I feel much better about the future knowing there is a way to separate shared computer knowledge from the proprietary money motivated side. After all, we are extending human "language" into areas not imagined before and why should a few companies be able to control the process for their own profit when it has been the hard work of all of humanity for centuries to get us to this point. I don't have a problem with the current way SMSQ/E is managed and I know the people involved work hard with little monetary reward. I think an open source model would work better but that is just my opinion. Open source is not against there being proprietary software for sale. It is more about a way to have an alternative so we have a choice and the knowledge can be shared and grow just like languages always have. I knew the QL was very special the first time I switch it on and am pleased to see it receive credit as a key motivator for the Open Source Movement. -- Bill
