I Will Not Respect Microsoft
@ 2007-08-11 20:04:16
Filed under: Media Microsoft Personal Philosophy Politics Tech
Apparently Zemlin wants those of us in the FLOSS world to respect Microsoft. Here are my thoughts
So is AIDS but it doesn't make it a good thing nor should I 'respect' it.
I totally agree. They can sell ice to an Eskimo. They have a very strong marketing group. That doesn't make me respect them though. Marketing has nothing to do with code nor freedom.
The open source world is bright and scary to folks who have been living in the technological dark ages. It's understandable. When it comes to mailing lists avoidance because of possible flame wars .... welcome to the internet. It happens. Again it's understandable to think it's a bit weird at first but, unlike product XYZ where you are only a consumer and have very little to no control as to how projects move, you get at least a bit and that can mean being at odds with someone else.
That's not really a good thing. Another one of FLOSS's strong points is that the software is ready when the software is ready. It makes it stable and do what is expected. If projects start trying to hit deadlines to meet other projects deadlines we are going to end up in PM hell (which is pretty normal in most closed source shops). If project A is ready, project B is ready, project C is not, and project D is mainly ready we could see C and D release to not hold up A and B causing bad releases. Let's not copy Microsoft in that respect!
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Filed under: Media Microsoft Personal Philosophy Politics Tech
Apparently Zemlin wants those of us in the FLOSS world to respect Microsoft. Here are my thoughts
Open source vendors have to recognise[sic] that Windows is here to stay [...]
So is AIDS but it doesn't make it a good thing nor should I 'respect' it.
"There are some things that Windows does pretty well," Zemlin said. Microsoft for instance has excelled in marketing the operating system, and has a good track record in fending off competition.
I totally agree. They can sell ice to an Eskimo. They have a very strong marketing group. That doesn't make me respect them though. Marketing has nothing to do with code nor freedom.
"This is a matter of leadership - for us to recognise that the world some times does see open source or open source licences as risky," said Zemlin. He also pointed out that many firms shy away from participating on open source mailing lists because discussions there tend to explode into flame wars.
The open source world is bright and scary to folks who have been living in the technological dark ages. It's understandable. When it comes to mailing lists avoidance because of possible flame wars .... welcome to the internet. It happens. Again it's understandable to think it's a bit weird at first but, unlike product XYZ where you are only a consumer and have very little to no control as to how projects move, you get at least a bit and that can mean being at odds with someone else.
Zemlin also called for a better synchronisation between projects. As software projects are increasingly bundling several projects, they would benefit from synchronised released scheduled.
That's not really a good thing. Another one of FLOSS's strong points is that the software is ready when the software is ready. It makes it stable and do what is expected. If projects start trying to hit deadlines to meet other projects deadlines we are going to end up in PM hell (which is pretty normal in most closed source shops). If project A is ready, project B is ready, project C is not, and project D is mainly ready we could see C and D release to not hold up A and B causing bad releases. Let's not copy Microsoft in that respect!
digg it
seed it
del.icio.us
ma.gnolia
