Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Why the Office Format Wars are Not Over
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| In fact, the shareholders are likely to benefit too. The last time
>| Microsoft backed a major open standard, rather than developing its
>| own solution, was when it adopted TCP/IP for networking - and look at
>| what an amazing opportunity that turned into for everyone,
>| Microsoft included.
> `----
>
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000197
>
> The Importance Of Free Open Standards In The Evolution Of The Web: Tim
> Berners-Lee Reports
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| He points out how critical it is that the Internet is seen and kept
>| as an open development platform, of which the world wide web is only
>| one expression.
> `----
>
> http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/03/15/the_importance_of_free_open.htm
>
> Notice the sudden addition of the word "free". Microsoft has _corrupted_ the
> meaning of "Open" by declaring that "Open Source is not Free". OpenXML is
> not free either (let alone open, but that's another debate). But it's XML. I
> guess XML is no longer synonymous with interoperability either, thanks to
> Microsoft.
The term open-source was flawed at birth, though, as it was coined by
Eric Raymond in a deliberate effort to have something which captured
some of the advantages of free software, but seemed more business
friendly. I forget the fine details of the open-source manifesto, but
it was certainly at least partly about not being quite so free as free
software... I do recall having some concerns about the move at the time,
expecting this kind of thing to happen. Free is a much harder word to
corrupt in the same way, but even so, marketing people have done a good
job of it, "buy one, get one free" being a good example of something
which sounds perhaps more compelling than "buy two at half-price".
I'm sure Microsoft will give away a lot more of its wealth in order to
try to recapture the kind of market control it used to have.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
|
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