* Roy Schestowitz peremptorily fired off this memo:
> Bill Gates Claims Open Source Means Nobody Can Improve Software
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| His complaint is that open source creates a license "so that nobody can ever
>| improve the software." It's hard to figure out how to respond to that
>| statement since it's the exact opposite of how open source software works.
>| The exact point is that anyone can improve the software. It's proprietary
>| software like Microsoft's that's limited such that only Microsoft is allowed
>| to improve it. It's no secret that Gates isn't a fan of open source software,
>| but it still seems odd that he would make a statement that is so obviously
>| false, both in theory and in practice. Perhaps old FUD habits die hard, but
>| one would hope that as he enters "retirement" he'll have a more open mind on
>| such things.
> `----
>
> http://techdirt.com/articles/20080423/004519925.shtml
>
> Everybody know that this so-called "retirement" is just a phase of entering a
> lobby campaign, FUD campaign, and dumping crusade against Linux (it has
> already begun, with examples that include OLPC).
Here's the Wired article:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/bill-gates-what.html
My god, age is taking a toll on Billy Butt-Crust.
Not only in looks, but in senescence:
The core problem seemed to intrigue Gates, who offered it as "a
paradox": If a drug company ever invents a treatment for something
like malaria, it'd be immediately beset by calls to give the drug
away. "So they choose never to work in those areas," he noted
sympathetically. "The current incentive system isn't doing it."
How much error and misinformation can /you/ cram into that paragraph?
One thing Gates won't be leaving behind in retirement is his distaste
for open source software. After one scientist asked if Gates would
consider open source uses in health research, the man who built his
$280 billion company on the power of intellectual property bristled.
I'll bet his asshole puckered up, too.
"There's free software and then there's open source," he
suggested, noting that Microsoft gives away its software in
developing countries. With open source software, on the other hand,
"there is this thing called the GPL, which we disagree with."
You couldn't make this stuff up. The man who made his fortune in part
by dumpster-diving, appropriating open-source technology, stifling or
choking off competitors, backstabbing his partners, and, oh yeah,
writing closed off software on his ever-absorbing Windows platform,
deigning to judge the work of generous volunteers.
Open source, he said, creates a license "so that nobody can ever
improve the software," he claimed, bemoaning the squandered
opportunity for jobs and business. (Yes, Linux fans, we're aware of
how distorted this definition is.) He went back to the analogy
of pharmaceuticals: "I think if you invent drugs, you should be able
to charge for them," he said, adding with a shrug: "That may seem
radical."
What an asshole.
--
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few
employers are interested in helping you find yourself.
-- Bill Gates
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