Grokking open source
,----[ Quote ]
| Another common question asked of open source software is simply “How can it
| be any good?” After all, what type of programmer gives away his or her code?
| And surely it’s only supported in a lame way, on nights and weekends if even
| that. Not to mention that it can never be innovative; surely open source
| developers are just copying what’s already out there – they’re not working to
| break whole new ground. Right?
|
| Wrong. These questions may, possibly, make some logical or pragmatic or
| business-oriented sense. Yet, a fundamental aspect has escaped. The open
| source community are passionate and ideological. They share a set of values
| for which they feel strongly. The people who question why open source
| developers do the things they do ask these questions because they do not
| really understand what matters to the open source world.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17232/1141/
Related:
Flipping the Linux switch: Myths about Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| There are a lot of funny, preconceived notions about Linux (and Linux users).
| Some ideas fall in to the realm of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt). Some ideas
| have an inkling of truth to them, and have grown and mutated into full
| fledged myths. Sort of like how Vlad the Impaler became Dracula, but with a
| lot less violence and a lot more compiling.
|
| Some of the myths may even be stopping you from trying Linux. You want to try
| it, sure... but it's too hard or can't do what you need or you're not a
| hacker.
|
| Let's lay some myths to rest today. Pitchforks, torches and garlic are
| optional.
|
| Myth: Linux is hard.
|
| [...]
|
| Myth: If it's free (in cost), there must be something wrong with it.
|
| [...]
|
| Myth: Linux users are anti-Microsoft.
|
| [...]
|
| Myth: Linux can't handle multimedia files.
|
| [...]
|
| Myth: Linux means re-installing my whole system. If I hate it... Then what?
`----
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/24/flipping-the-linux-switch-myths-about-linux/
Top 5 Linux Myths
,----[ Quote ]
| The sheer ignorance regarding casual Linux users astounds me to no end. While
| I'm not interested in pointing fingers, there is a lot of misinformation
| about the Linux community, and we will help to dispel some of these myths,
| once and for all.
|
| 1. Linux Users Are Cheap. Ah, this is one of my favorites. It seems that
| Linux users have long since been seen as cheap, despite the fact that so many
| of them in the States earn up to six figures. First, define cheap? Are we
| cheap because we choose not to buy brand new everything with every release of
| our selected OS?
`----
http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2618&Itemid=449
The commie smear against open source
,----[ Quote ]
| Because proprietary companies will always spend more of their
| money on marketing than open source outfits, it pops up regularly
| in the best of places, such as at Time Magazine recently. Or
| Microsoft sends CEO Steve Ballmer to London, so he can rant
| about how his lawyers are going to make all Linux users pay
| Microsoft for their stuff.
|
| It's nonsense.
|
| This is not "the gift economy," as Justin Fox calls it in Time.
| This is people taking advantage of the fact that the Internet
| has no distribution costs, which means marketing costs can
| also sink to zero. No ads in Time doesn't make you a communist.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=946
|
|
