-
“I do think that the core principles of open source can be helpful far outside the realm of software development.”
-
Column mentions Hyperic’s choice of license without saying what it is. They use GPL.
-
“OpenDocument and MathML are now native format; OpenDocument is now the default file format, and most of the standard is now supported”
-
I think the number of features argument is vastly overrated but I do think that having absolutely perfect printing on multiple platforms will be the thing that makes or breaks Office 2.0 in the short term.
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.
Indeed, ‘open source’ is no panacea.
But if someone gives me a fully-licenced copy of Microsoft Word, a fully-paid-for Sony Playstation, and a pencil-and-paper, then the pencil and paper is going to be the most use.
If they let me find a copy of OpenOffice.org , and a Linux, then I can probably get it going on my Playstation … possibly with some collaboration from friends … and then we are back in business.
Monopolies tend to monopolise until they go ‘bang’; very profitable for the monopolist, but not so good for those who consume their goods and services, and pay the bills. IBM found this out in the 1950′s; nearly sank in the resulting ‘bang’ in the early 1990′s, but is back in business with a vengeance now, as ‘the world’s help desk’.
No comment, of course, on what the guys and gals in Redmond think they are doing. That’s their business.