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Welcome to the STAEDTLER international website!
I love their pens.
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Is IBM open source’s little friend? | Open Source | ZDNet.com
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Linux/Open Source – OSI Seeks Open-Source License Reform
“The Proliferation Committee of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) has published the first draft of a report that seeks to curb the proliferation of open-source licenses.”
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IBM Opens the Open-Source Floodgates – Motley Fool – MSNBC.com
‘A “fundamental expansion” of the open-source movement could lead to new products, profits, and customers for Big Blue.’
Disclaimer
The content on this site is my own and does not necessarily represent my employer’s positions, strategies or opinions. I work for IBM.
The major benefit IBM appears to be getting from Free and Open Source Software is peace of mind. Everybody who’s bothered to put the effort in to finding out the details knows that the SCO case/s is an attempt to colonize the courtroom by a Keystone Kops byblow – and the resulting peace of mind is something you can’t buy.
IBM’s contribution to Free and Open Source Software – Eclipse is a valuable addition to a developer’s toolkit. IBM’s continuing contribution to Apache is highly valued. IBM’s adoption of Linux gave Linux a lot of credibility – it isn’t every day that something intended solely for one platform – i386 – winds up powering mainframes; we search in vain for a Vista/390, let alone a Win95/390 – so sad! ;)
What do I wish IBM could add? I wish IBM could consider IBM OS/2 2/3/4.x a hobbyist platform and release the source tree under something like the IBM CPL; ditto for the Lotus SmarteSuite. Nobody knows just what would happen under that sort of situation, and so that is likely to benefit IBM hugely – much as the hands-off release of the original IBM PC specs did much that was totally unexpected – and beneficial. What more could IBM do in the FOSS field to expand its services offerings? I suspect getting hands-on-and-down-in-the-dirt with emerging markets in the developing nations. Nobody knows just how those markets are going to turn out, and it’s better to treat them as full partners right from the word go – lest one end up being treated as the junior partner once they’ve got the situation under control.