Commies at the gate

Tue Nov 11 12:03:24 GMT 2003 Commies at the gate

Links:
http://www.thelinuxshow.com/
http://linuxpr.com/releases/6395.html
http://www.cdxpo.com

(From linuxpr.com):

"It is time for a `SCO Reality Check'" said Gerhardt," McBride has become unhinged with his latest flurry of charges and claims; you would think that the commies are at the gate. Just because Caldera/SCO has had a bad business plan and bad management does not mean Open Technology is a flawed business model and bad for the American economy. Open Technology and Open Source software has been a key part of the growth of the IT industry since our beginning. Further, the fact that a large number of very stupid venture capitalists blew a whole bunch of money on very stupid dot com ideas in the late 1990's, does not mean the Internet community, which is part and parcel of the open technology community, has somehow poisoned the well for profit based businesses on the internet. This "Culture of Intellectual Property Theft" as McBride claims exists, is a diversion away from the real issues. The mere idea that SCO (and McBride) is elevating itself into the role of defender of the American way of life; democracy, MOM, apple pie, free enterprise and the IP rights of the Hollywood industries, is just laughable. I think Darl should join the RIAA and the MPAA, he seems far more comfortable with them than competing in the IT industry."

The commies are at the gate. I've said it before: if this were the fifties, people would be getting hauled before Congress to name names. Given today's political climate (what's good for big business is good for America), I'm only surprised that there hasn't been more speaking out against Linux and Open Source. Probably the saving grace is that government likes this stuff for their own reasons and therefore is hesitant to join the attack.

McBride's accusations of a "Culture of Intellectual Property Theft" are nonsense: closed source theft is much more likely and much easier to get away with. But logic isn't the point here: it's fear. Fear of an Open Source takeover. Actually, although some in the Open Source community will disagree, I think he is right to be afraid: I see this as a form of Gresham's law, where Open Source software will drive most traditional commercial software out of existence eventually. Some may survive, but it's going to have to be awfully, awfully good to compete.

I see that as a good thing. Others will contemplate that and be horrified. It's obvious that a lot of weapons can be focused against open source: patent and copyright claims, DMCA restrictions, court challenges to licenses like the GPL may just be the beginning. The recent attempt to put a back door in the Linux kernel might be someone on the "other side" working toward discrediting Linux. Hardball is a game the Open Source folks don't really understand, and really aren't capable of responding too very well. Later on in the linuxpr.com release, Gerhard says "The facts will speak for themselves." Unfortunately, very little of this has much to do with facts. It's fear, protectionism, and politics. Most of what really matters happens behind the scenes, unseen and uncommented.

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